Redemptions
by Pikawhore
Summary: Xander returns to Sunnydale six months after the events of 'We Went Wrong' to face his friends and his destiny. But has he changed? X/D, S/Amy, B/X eventually.
1. Part 1

Title: Redemptions (Corny I know, but I can't think of a title yet)  
  
Author: Pikawhore  
  
Disclaimer: Joss owns em. I just play with their minds.  
  
Spoilers: This is a follow-up to my first fic ' We Went Wrong'. So same spoilers as that one.  
  
Feedback: Yes, please  
  
Timeline: Around six months after the events in 'We Went Wrong'. So maybe around Season 7 of the buffyverse.  
  
Bashing: None.yet..(  
  
{} denotes thought  
  
  
  
Part 1:  
  
The cold.  
  
The first thing that comes to mind when one thinks of hell is intense heat. Pits of fire and brimstone, searing and charring the flesh of the beings unfortunate enough to be trapped inside them.  
  
However, in reality hell is actually cold.  
  
The cold stems from the feeling of utter loneliness one experiences. The feeling of hopelessness that envelopes a person in hell is more torturous than any fire can even imagine to inflict.  
  
And that feeling of despair was what one Xander Harris was feeling at that very moment.  
  
Xander walked through the barren landscape, his vision limited by the thick cloud of mist that was all around him. The mist seemed to almost consume him, caressing his skin, causing him to shiver involuntarily. This only added to the feeling of emptiness that had somehow embedded itself in Xander's heart.  
  
Curiously though, Xander was not the least bit scared or anxious by his environment or the emotions he was going through. It was as if Xander knew that he did not belong here, and was only visiting temporarily. Even more strange though, was the fact that his feet had taken a life of their own, dragging the rest of his body along for the ride.  
  
He walked for what seemed like hours, cutting through fog like a hot knife through butter. He did not have any marker or landmark to give him an idea of his current position or where he was heading. He could have been walking in circles for all he knew.  
  
Suddenly, Xander saw it. The figure was maybe a few feet in front of him, curled up in the fetal position, rocking back and fourth rhythmically. She was clad in black, which made her fiery red hair, which was strewn about in a mess, stand out even more than usual.  
  
Xander approached her cautiously. Tentatively, he put his hand on her shoulder. She looked up at him, her face seemingly devoid of any emotion. But her eyes conveyed a multitude of emotion.  
  
Anger.  
  
Disappointment.  
  
Fear.  
  
Pain.  
  
Loneliness.  
  
Then the screaming started. All around him, coming from nowhere in particular. The screams conveyed a sense of pain and anguish that Xander could see in the figure's eyes. The screams became louder and louder. Unable to take it anymore, he crumpled to the ground, hands covering his ears in an attempt to block out the sound. The figure stood up and looked down on him, a cold maniacal smile on her face.  
  
  
  
Xander woke up with a start. Even though the air conditioning was on full blast in his motel room, he was drenched in sweat. He got up, fumbling around in the darkness as he headed to the bathroom, the moonlight his only guide. Suddenly, he froze. Xander could sense another presence in the room, hear a heartbeat not of his own. He grabbed his barretas which were on the dressing table next to him and turned around, guns at ready, in one smooth movement.  
  
"Whoever you are, I suggest you come out so I can see you before I start making with the 'bang-bang'."  
  
"Whoa there, cowboy. What is it with you 'shoot first, ask questions later' types? I come in peace.", the man answered as he stepped out of the shadows. He was wearing a Hawaiian floral shirt so loud it put a Limp Bizkit concert to shame, and his right hand was contorted to mimic the Vulcan peace sign.  
  
"And I find you so convincing, what with the sneaking into my hotel room and all. Here's a tip, next time you attempt breaking and entering, try wearing something quieter. With a shirt like that, I heard you coming yesterday."  
  
"I'm not here to trade opinions about men's fashions with you, Xander. I'm here to talk about you." Xander's eyes widened as the man mentioned his name. Who the hell is this guy?  
  
"Who the hell are you?"  
  
"I'm someone who is knows about your past." The man answered cryptically. "And someone who's very concerned about your future."  
  
"Yeah? And what's it to you?"  
  
"Lets just say that my 'clients' have a vested interest in you making an appearance at the Hellmouth sometime in the very near future."  
  
" I'm not going back there. I have nothing worth going back to anymore."  
  
"Something big is going down there, son. Your friends might be in trouble. You should be there to help them."  
  
"I should be there? I SHOULD be dead! I SHOULD be enjoying the quiet life six feet under right now! And what do my 'friends' need me for? Another donut run? Another shelf needs fixing?"  
  
"But you aren't dead, Xander. And the way I look at it you have three choices. You could take your own life, but you're too honourable for that. You could mope around feeling sorry for yourself, which is what you're doing now. Not fun is it? Or you could be grateful for the second chance you've got, and do something with your life."  
  
The man's speech caused Xander's anger to seethe even further. {This son of a bitch doesn't even know me and he wants to tell me what to do?} "Oh yeah, I am so going to take the advice of a guy who shops in the 'loud obnoxious losers' section of Sears."  
  
"Listen, kid.", the man said, a hint of agitation in his voice. "If you don't want to do it for your friends, that's just fine. But do it for Her. She had faith in you. Don't prove Her wrong. Don't let Her sacrifice be in vein." With that the man started heading for the door. Xander did not stop pointing the barrels of his guns at the man for even a split second. "One more thing kid, about that dream you've been having."  
  
"What?"  
  
" Hell's a bitch, isn't it?" With that, the man walked out of Xander's motel room.  
  
Xander stood there, rooted to the spot for the moment. He furrowed his brow in deep concentration as he replayed the conversation he just had in his head. Finally coming to a decision, Xander reached for the leather pants that were lying on the ground and put them on. He then walked over to his bed and gently shook the figure sleeping peacefully on the other side.  
  
"Wake up, luv."  
  
"What is it kitten? You know mommy doesn't like it when you interrupt her beauty sleep."  
  
"Get dressed, Dru. We're leaving."  
  
"But where are we going?", Drusilla whined. "Mommy likes it here. The people here are so sweet."  
  
"We're going to Sunnydale." 


	2. Part 2

Part 2:  
  
Dear Giles,  
  
Now before you go all 'Dear Lord', start rubbing your glasses and getting all panicky on me, let me assure you that this is not one of those suicide, 'Goodbye Cruel World' notes. I know, I know, letters are really a thing of the past with computers or 'those infernal machines' as you so fondly call them around. But e-mail isn't appropriate for what I'm about to write to you.  
  
Jeez, this sounds so much like a Dear John letter doesn't it?? Well, except for your name being Giles and not John. Well, it should be dear Rupert actually, but.. ok, ok, getting sidetracked. The reason I'm writing you this letter is because my therapist says it'll give me closure. So here I am, closing.  
  
We learned how to write official letters in school, but not 'closure' letters. I wonder if there's a format or something. Looks like I'll have to wing it (I can see you rolling your eyes Giles). Hmm, where do I begin? Maybe I'll start with how my life is going right now (This is where Dr. Stromberg will start telling me not to be so self absorbed and egoistic, but what the hell, it is my closure letter).  
  
I guess I hit rock bottom the night Willow and Xander.. went away. Even though Willow had gone bad long before that night, and deep down I knew that it was either her or us, I was still unprepared for what happened. She was the glue that held me together when I first came here and she was the closest female friend and confidante I had after mom and Dawn. And even though I now realize that Willow chose her own path, I also see that I was partly to blame for not recognizing her problem since I was so wrapped up with my own. I want to tell her how sorry I am for not seeing that but now I can't.  
  
And Xander. Even though it always belonged to another, Xander was my heart. The day when Anya died and Xander stopped living, my heart stopped beating. Out of everyone in the group, he was the only one that never stopped believing and that night he gave his life for us... for me. Do you know that night he told me he loved me? I don't know whether he meant 'friend' love or something more, and I never will.  
  
You know what was the worst part Giles? We couldn't even recover their bodies. Which means that I couldn't even say goodbye to them that way. At least if we could have had a funeral for them I could have had some closure on some level (Here I go thinking about the world in terms of myself again, gotta love that Buffy ego).  
  
The day after the everything happened I ended what I had with Spike. I knew what we had was nothing but sex, and I recognized that I was hurting myself by staying in an unhealthy relationship. Spike didn't love me, he just wanted the Slayer. Surprisingly though, he took it quite well. I think he did because even though he doesn't love me, he does love Dawn. And for that, I'm grateful. Spike still helps me with the patrol and even helps me train (in other words, he's my vampire shaped punching bag). Anyway, the day after that I checked into therapy and now I'm earning an honest living as co-owner of the Magic Box.  
  
Speaking of the Magic Box, my 'boss' is finally getting her life post- rat together. Amy runs most everything in the Magic Box (don't worry Giles, she still keeps the bat essence away from the eye of newt, just like you used to do) and though no one speaks of it, she has taken up the leadership role of our group. She checks for upcoming prophecies, sets up the patrolling schedule and basically acts all stuffy and Englishmen like. I swear, sometimes she sometimes even does your accent just to get our attention.  
  
Dawn has changed a lot since that night. I think she has as much emotional investment in you guys as I do. For a while there we thought we had lost her, but she made it through. Don't we always do? Dawn's more mature now. She doesn't do stupid things like rush head first into battles anymore. In fact, me, Amy and Spike usually take her along to help out when we have a particularly nasty big bad to fight nowadays. I know this is not the most conducive life for a teenage girl, but despite the circumstances Dawnie has grown up into a marvelous young woman, and I'm very proud of her for it.  
  
So that's it. The last six months of my life of my life condensed in an easily read and referenced format. I have a new group to help me fight the evil things now. But they can't ever replace the three of you, Giles. And I don't want them to replace the three of you. I can't even call us the Scooby gang anymore since the Scooby gang was me, you, Xander and Willow. What I have now is just a pale comparison. And it hurt me a lot when all of you were gone. It hurt me a lot when YOU went away. You were like a father to me Giles, and when you left, I was lost. It was like I had lost a whole part of me. Part of the reason that I went to Spike for comfort was because I had to have something to fill the void that you left in me. But I understand why you did what you did. I became a better person because of it. And I am very thankful for it.  
  
So there you have it. I'm finally taking the first steps to getting my life back together. I have people who care for me and I also have my self respect back. Life's not perfect right now, but it is heading towards 'bearable', which is all anyone can hope for in Sunnydale. I know what you're thinking: I've jinxed us haven't I? Oh, well. If there's anything I've learned this past six months is to take life one day at a time and not worry too much about the future. That's why the call the present, 'present'. It's a gift.  
  
Goodbye Giles. I love you.  
  
Hugs and very restrained English kisses,  
  
Buffy Summers.  
  
  
  
Buffy sighed as she put her pen down. She stared wistfully at the finished letter for a moment before placing it into a white envelope with the word 'Giles' written neatly in the center.  
  
" At least I'll be able to actually mail this one if I had the guts." she murmured as she opened her desk drawer. She placed the envelope inside next to two similar envelopes with the words 'Xander' and 'Willow' written on each of them respectively. She stared at the envelopes for a moment before exiting her room to go for her usual nightly patrol.  
  
  
  
He surveyed the seemingly peaceful town from atop a nearby cliff.  
  
{The Hellmouth. I can feel it's power. The stars are properly aligned. I just hope all the players of this little drama about to unfold are on schedule. It is time. Time for me to rise to my rightful position in this world.}  
  
With that thought, the man waved his arms nonchalantly, causing a portal of white light to materialize out of thin air. The man whistled an unfamiliar tune as he entered the portal, closing it behind him with another wave of his hand. 


	3. Part 3

Part 3:  
  
Joey considered herself as quite the accomplished vampire. In her 15 years of demonhood, she has accomplished quite a lot. She has two childes, Dawson and Pacey, a vampire gang of her own and has been the cause of over THREE mass massacres {well one of those times it was a soccer riot but I still was important in the massacring process}. And now here she was in the Hellmouth.  
  
"What a beautiful cemetary." Pacey chirped cheerily. For a creature of the night, she was an unnaturally perky person.  
  
"Yes, Pacey. All the death and decay really gives this place such a warm atmosphere." Dawson answered, his voice dripping with sarcasm.  
  
"Will you two please shut the hell up! Some of us are plotting to take over this town over here.", Joey hissed.  
  
"What plot? Let's do what we usually do. Meet a few people, bite a few necks, and have a jolly good time. Why the sudden delusions of grandeur anyway?", Dawson asked nonchalantly.  
  
Pacey gave Dawson an exasperated look. "Hello, we're on a Hellmouth! Every vampire's dream is to have a little slice of hell he or she can call their home, a place where they can kick back and relax after a hard day's worth of murdering and voice pillaging."  
  
"So what's the problem then? From what I heard of Hellmouths, that is gonna be a piece of cake. Hellmouths are like demon apartments."  
  
"I know. But from what I've heard from other vampires, there's something called The Slayer here. I don't know what that is, but other vampires are scared shitless of it."  
  
"Slayer?" Dawson asked quizzically "Isn't that like a brand of mouthwash or something?"  
  
Pacey, oblivious to the fact that no one was listening to her, continued her tirade. " We could spruce this place up! A vase over here, a dead puppy by that tombstone over there."  
  
"Let me guess. You guys are the representatives for 'Better Crypts and Gardens'?" A new, feminine voice interrupted the three. The owner of the voice, a short blonde woman stepped out of the shadows provided by the trees. Joey, Dawson, Pacey and the rest of their minions suddenly felt fear shoot up their spine involuntarily.  
  
"Who are you?" Joey asked bluntly.  
  
The woman gave her a curious look before the mischief returned to her eyes. "So now we're making introductions before I kick your ass? How formal of you. I should have dressed for the 'event'. Anyway, my name is Buffy, the vampire slayer, and you are?"  
  
"Hi, I'm Pacey, and this is." Pacey started, before being interrupted by Joey. "So you're the slayer.." "What the hell is a slayer, anyway?" Dawson suddenly chimed in.  
  
"What, you guys never received the memo?" Buffy gave an exaggerated sigh. "It's a very long story. But, in a nutshell, I kill you guys." Buffy said as she got into a (lazy looking) defensive stance.  
  
"Oh, I'm so scared." Joey taunted, trying to ignore the inherent feeling of fear that her kind experience when confronted with a slayer. "There are 15 vampires here, along with an almost-master vampire. Do you think we fear you, Slayer?"  
  
" An 'almost' master vampire? Let me guess, you failed the written exam right. You don't look like the book smarts kind of vamp. Besides, who said I was alone?" As Buffy said that, two crossbow bolts came from behind her, catching both Pacey and a random minion vampire squarely in the chests, dusting them instantly.  
  
Buffy jumped into action immediately, taking on both Joey and Dawson at once while the other minion level vampires ran around aimlessly in panic trying to avoid the seemingly endless rain of crossbow bolts being fired at them from out of nowhere. The battle was very one sided in Buffy's favour, despite the overwhelming number odds.  
  
Buffy easily blocked a sloppy punch thrown her way by Joey, and caught her with a savage kick to the chest, knocking her down. And then, without even looking, Buffy threw her stake over her shoulder, dusting Dawson, who was trying to sneak up on her from behind. By then, already half of the minion vampires had been taken out by the crossbow bolts.  
  
Joey let out a high pitched scream when she saw Dawson scatter to the wind. "First you kill Pacey, and now you kill Dawson. For that slayer, you are going to pay.", Joey threatened, and started attacking Buffy with more ferocity.  
  
But she was still no match for Buffy.  
  
" Pacey, Dawson? Let me guess, you're name is Joey right? Hey, Spike! Get over here! I think the whole cast of Dawson's Creek have been vamped." Buffy said as she easily blocked Joey's offence.  
  
Suddenly, the torrent of bolts ceased as the remaining four minion vamps let out a collective sigh of relief. They're relief was short lived however, as they were suddenly attacked by a certain platinum haired vampire.  
  
"Don't you". drop kick, stake. "dare joke about". parry, hard punch, stake. "Dawson's creek".roundhouse, stake. "like that, slayer.". block, clothesline, stake.  
  
"What are you going to do, Spike? Tell your mommy?", Buffy teased as she nonchalantly tripped the charging Joey, causing her to fall down on her chest before staking her from behind.  
  
"I'll have you know Slayer, that Dawson's Creek is quality programming. Besides, what else am I going to do during the day?"  
  
"Well, you could go sunbathing, take a bath in holy water or just drop yourself on a bed of stakes.", Amy said as she stepped out into the view of the other two, holding two crossbows, while another two was in a bag she was holding.  
  
"Oh, sod off, cheese breath.", Spike muttered.  
  
"Looks like the spell worked, Aims." Buffy said as she got up, dusting herself off.  
  
"Yeah. With auto reloading crossbows, we can attack the vamps more efficiently. Those goons didn't know what hit them." Amy said with a grin on her face.  
  
Buffy smiled back mischievously. "Who knows, with this 'innovation' we might not even need Spike anymore."  
  
"You might not need my stake to kill vampires anymore, slayer, but you still need my stake for other things.", Spike said with a leer.  
  
"Amy?" Buffy asked with a neutral expression.  
  
"Yeah Buff?"  
  
"Did he just mention 'The Forbidden Topic of Doom'?", Buffy said as she pointed her stake towards Spike's chest.  
  
"Sound like it, Buff."  
  
Spike very slowly pushed the stake aside, before hastily deciding to change the subject. "So, Brain," he addressed Amy, bringing his voice to a higher pitch, "what are we going to do tonight?"  
  
"The same thing we do every night, Pinky," Amy answered seriously, "try to take over the world.". The Pinky and The Brain joke was an old one between the two of them.  
  
"Or, we could go get a drink at Willy's. Your treat of course." Spike shot back.  
  
"Oh Spike, you really know how to show a girl a good time.", Amy answered sarcastically. "Wanna join us, Buff?"  
  
"Nah, I've got to go check up on Dawn. I think she may be coming down with something. She said she was tired, and."  
  
Buffy stopped mid sentence as her heightened Slayer senses picked up a distinct sound coming from somewhere in the cemetery. {A humming?}  
  
"This way." Buffy said as she motioned for Spike and Amy to follow her.  
  
The humming came from a clearing in the middle of the cemetery. When Buffy, Spike and Amy reached the clearing, Buffy and Spike's jaws fell as they saw the source of the humming.  
  
"Drusilla?"  
  
The scene in front of them was disturbing to say the least. Drusilla was circling a mangled, drained, corpse, holding on to Miss Edith, singing 'Ring Around The Roses'.  
  
Buffy, seeing enough, charged her, staked raised. Drusilla barely avoided the stake pointed squarely at her chest. When she saw her attacker, she smiled. "Yippee, it's the slayer. Miss Edith is warning you, slayer, you had better not attack her mommy. That would make mommy's kitten very angry. And when kitten is angry, he becomes a tiger."  
  
"Tigers? So you finally joined the circus, Drusilla? Did they run out of normal freaks for the sideshow?" Buffy lunged forward again, this time knocking Drusilla to the ground, and straddled her.  
  
"Buffy, no!" Spike screamed as he jumped towards Buffy, trying to knock her off Drusilla. Even though he was a white hat now, he still had a spot in his heart for his sire.  
  
Unfortunately, his chipped kicked in. He stopped short in mid air, and fell to the ground unceremoniously as he clutched his head in agony.  
  
Buffy raised her stake above Drusilla's chest, ready to strike the final blow, when she heard a clapping sound from her left. All four of them turned around to see who it was.  
  
  
  
"Good, I see everyone is here." The man said. He was six foot tall, looked to be in his early thirties, and had an athletic build. His fully red attire contrasted his grey eyes. "The Slayer, William The Bloody and Drusilla. But wait, someone is missing. Where is the White Knight?"  
  
  
  
Xander stood in front of the tombstones of his loved ones. {Good thing this cemetery isn't in Buffy's route tonight, I don't want them to see me like this.}He walked past each grave, touching the heads of their tombstones.  
  
Jenny Calendar.  
  
Joyce Summers.  
  
Anya Harris.  
  
Willow Rosenberg.  
  
Xander Harris  
  
{They think I'm dead. And they're right. I am dead.}  
  
"Xander?"  
  
A frightened, timid, sobbing voice coming from behind him. He'd recognize the voice anywhere. The voice of a friend and a sister. The voice of one of the people he used to love. Back when he could still love.  
  
He turned around.  
  
"Dawn."  
  
Dawn rushed to him, pulling him tightly into a hug. Her mind was full of questions right now {I thought he was dead. We all did. How did he get back here? Oh my god, is he a vampire? Am I hugging a vampire? What if he's going to bite me right now?} But for now, nothing mattered to her.  
  
They're. her Xander was back. Back where he belonged. 


	4. Part 4

Part 4:  
  
He surveyed the scene in front of him. The slayer was on top of Drusilla, stake raised, ready for the kill while William the Bloody laid helpless, clutching his head in pain {So the reports are true. Humans have finally found a way to curb the instinctive tendencies of vampires}. A fourth person was looking on, a half puzzled, half bemused expression on her face {An unexpected variable. I can sense a great power emanating from her aura. Perhaps one of Merlin's ilk? I'll have to research her to see if she might be able to interfere with my plans}.  
  
But the most important piece in his plan, the White Knight, was not there. This puzzled him. {I would have expected that self-righteous fool to be with the slayer. He would never pass up the chance to be on this kind of demon hunt}. He was hoping he could put his plan into motion right there and then. But he needed all of them together for it to work. No matter. He had been waiting a long time and waiting a few days longer would not be a problem. Besides, the presence of the spellcaster made him wonder what about the presence of other unexpected variables that might affect his plan. He would have to do a bit more research.  
  
"Hey, do you mind? Some of us are trying to slay the undead over here!", the voice of the slayer, still straddling Drusilla, interrupted him from his reverie. Even though he had now prematurely revealed himself to the slayer, losing the element of surprise, he could at least prevent the death of Drusilla, which would have only complicate things further.  
  
"Hello? I'm sorry, do you need anything? I am kind of busy right now. If you're waiting to get slayed, you should just leave your name and crypt address and I'll go kick your ass as soon as possible.", the slayer said, annoyance plainly in her voice.  
  
"My name is Dante.", he finally spoke, in a slightly English accent. "And I would appreciate it greatly if you would please get off the vampire." With that, he raised his right hand, which was clothed in a peculiarly designed golden gauntlet.  
  
"Hey pal, just because you ask nicely, doesn't mean." Buffy was suddenly pushed off Drusilla by a powerful, invisible force, and slammed into a nearby tree almost 10 feet away.  
  
By then, Spike had recovered from the debilitating effects of the chip, and Amy's own train of thought was broken when she heard Buffy's yelp as she made contact with the tree. Dante looked towards Amy, raised his left hand, which was covered in a similar gauntlet, and pointed towards Amy.  
  
"Incindare." he said calmly, as a circle of magical flame rose around Amy, deflecting any spells she tried to perform.  
  
Seeing Dante occupied with Amy, Spike took the chance to launch a fast flying kick towards him. But just as quickly, Dante whipped out a pair of .45's, and let loose with a seemingly endless barrage of bullets aimed towards Spike. Spike took all the bullets in his chest, and slumped unceremoniously to the ground, moaning in agony.  
  
"Just be grateful that the bullets were not blessed, vampire." Dante said as he looked down towards Spike. He then looked towards Amy who was still trying to escape her fiery prison and then turned to Buffy who was starting to regain consciousness. "That was disappointing. I expected the companions of the White Knight to provide more of a challenge. No matter. Now if you would please excuse me, I have a destiny to fulfill." With that he turned and melted into the night.  
  
Buffy tried to open her eyelids, which were at the moment heavier than all of Giles's books put together. "Ouch!" she squeaked as she gently touched the huge gash at the back of the head. {Thank god for my slayer healing, or I would have spent the night in a pool of my own blood. And in a cemetery full of vampires, that is never a good thing.} She finally managed to pry open her eyelids, and looked around for any sign of the person who had easily defeated her. {Great. Not only do I get my ass handed to me by someone actually named DANTE (what a stupid name), Drusilla managed to escape too.}  
  
A scream caught her attention as she turned to her left to ascertain it's source. A hysterical Amy (who had finally freed herself from the circle of fire), was rushing towards Spike, who was on the ground, clutching his chest.  
  
"Oh my god, oh my god, Spike are you okay?" Amy asked in between her tears.  
  
"Just peachy." Spike answered, in between fits of bleeding coughs.  
  
"Hang on Spike, we've got to get you out of here." Amy answered gently as she supported Spike on her shoulder.  
  
Buffy finally managed to get up and walked gingerly towards her friends. She finally saw Spike's blood soaked and bullet filled chest. She supported the other side of Spike's body on her shoulder. In that position, the three of them started shuffling towards the cemetery exit.  
  
"Don't worry, Spike, they're just bullets. You'll live." Buffy said, trying to calm Amy down.  
  
"Don't worry?" Amy said, hastening her steps. "If we don't hurry, he's gonna die!"  
  
"She's right, luv. Bullets can't kill me." Spike was starting to sound better already and this calmed soothed Amy's nerves a little.  
  
"Well, bullets or not, you've lost a lot of blood." Buffy said matter- of-factly. "We need to top you up. Let's get to the Box so we can dress our wounds and get you something to drink."  
  
  
  
Xander had forgotten how it feels like to be held like this. To be really held. Sure, he had held Dru. Hell, he had done more than that. But no matter how intimate he had gotten with her, Dru could not make him feel like what he was feeling now. He almost felt alive.  
  
{No, you're not alive. Sure, you're heart might be beating, but you are dead. She saw it and you know it. Now stop hugging the human beings and go back to Dru. Go back to your kind. You don't deserve to even be in the same town as Dawn, or Buffy. You don't deserve to be here. }  
  
Xander started pulling back. This act confused Dawn.  
  
"Xander?" she asked. "Is.. How.. When?"  
  
"Get away from me Dawn." A cold, cold, voice Dawn could barely recognize.  
  
"What's wrong Xander?"  
  
"Don't call me that. I'm not him. Now go!"  
  
"Xander, we thought you were dead. Were you? How did you get back?"  
  
Xander could not believe his ears {Isn't she listening to me?} "Aren't you listening? I'm not Xander! Just like you aren't actually human! You're just a glorified automatic garage door opener! Frankly, I don't know why we bothered with you. It's your fault all this happened! It's your fault I had to kil." Xander trailed off at the thought of that night.  
  
Dawn started backing away. This couldn't be the kind, sweet Xander they loved, could it? {Xander would never say such mean, spiteful things to me.}  
  
"Yes, Dawn. Go! Run to your precious Buffy! Go hide behind her stake! Go ruin her life even more than you already have!" Tears were running down Dawn's cheeks now. She turned and ran toward the exit of the cemetery.  
  
She didn't know how far she had gotten before she ran into something hard. At first she thought it was a tree, she could not be sure because of the tears in her eyes. But when she looked up she knew she was in trouble.  
  
A six foot behemoth of a vampire, with full game face on, was glaring down at her, a sadistic smile on his face. " Yum, breakfast. I love veal." Dawn started backing away, her hands instinctively fingering for the cross necklace she usually wore around her neck.  
  
{Oh great, I forgot to wear it today, of all days. Shhessh, Dawn, you're going to a cemetery in the middle of the night to visit your mother's grave, and you don't bring a cross? Buffy would kill you, if it wasn't for the fact that this vampire is going to first.}  
  
The vampire grabbed Dawn's shoulders, his strong hands preventing escape. He lowered his head towards Dawn's neck, baring his fangs. Dawn closed her eyes, anticipating the pain she was about to experience. {I just hope he doesn't turn me.}His sharp teeth were merely inches away from the soft flesh of Dawn's neck when she heard two loud shots coming from behind the vampire. The vampire stiffened, before scattering all over Dawn.  
  
From behind the cloud of dust Dawn could make out the figure of her saviour. Xander stood there as sturdy as stone, a small billow of smoke escaping from the barrel of his gun. They both stood there for a while, in an uncomfortable silence.  
  
"Let's get you home, it's not safe for you to be out alone at a time like this."  
  
The walk home was silent. Dawn was still unsure whether she could trust Xan. this person or not. Her heart was screaming to her that this was Xander, that her friend had come back to her. But her mind, who was controlling her actions at the moment, was telling her to be cautious. The thing this person had said to her just now was very hurtful, and just because he saved her life doesn't mean he was forgiven.  
  
Xander just didn't feel like talking.  
  
When they reached the front porch of the Summer's home, Xander turned to look at Dawn. He looked into her eyes. They held a multitude of emotions within them. There was curiosity, happiness, just a bit of fear and. hope. Xander knew what that was hope was for. The hope that this wasn't a dream. That Xander had really come back.  
  
He sighed and took out a piece of paper. "If you want answers, be at this address tomorrow night." With that he nodded towards Dawn and turned away. Before he could take another step however, Dawn spun him around and enveloped him in another hug, burying her face in his chest.  
  
"Welcome back, Xander. Welcome home." 


	5. Part 5

Part 5:  
  
Dawn recounted the events of the previous night in her head as she headed towards the Magic Box. She had gone to visit her mother's grave alone, despite her sister's warnings not to venture out at night without someone (specifically Buffy or Spike) to accompany her. There she had met an old friend, which would have been perfectly normal if not for the fact that Xander was supposed to be dead. She had been attacked by a vampire, and would right now be dead or worse, a vampire herself, if it had not been for Xander's Dawn-saving shenanigans. And to top it all off, her sister had not come home last night, and considering her sister's occupation, was never a good sign. {Good thing today is a Saturday, I so do not need school right now.}  
  
Dawn stopped short as she noticed her surroundings {Hey, I don't remember these shops on the route to the Box.} Finally realizing where she was, she turned around and groaned. It seems that while she was having her internal ramblings, she had passed the Magic Box and had continued on walking. {Great, now I have to back-ass-track two whole blocks.} "Way to go, goofus." she muttered to herself, hoping that passers-by would not think her loony.  
  
Dawn opened the Magic Box door, to be greeted by an overwhelming smell of incense. Ever since Amy had taken over the Magic Box, she had insisted on giving it a "more exotic atmosphere, to attract more non- hellmouthy clientele." This would be fine with Dawn, if it wasn't for the fact that the smell of incense was so powerful that it gave her a headache every time she was in there for more than five minutes.  
  
"Welcome to the Magic Box, where we serve all your supernatural needs!" Amy chirped from behind the counter, her head buried in one of Giles 's huge supernatural tomes. Her voice would be considered way to perky at anytime of day, not to mention 10 in the morning. "How may I help you?"  
  
"Yeah, do you have any slayer slash older sisters in stock? Mine didn't come home last night." Dawn deadpanned, trying to hide the worry in her voice.  
  
Amy's head shot up at the sound of Dawn's voice. She was wearing a witches hat straight out of 'The Wizard of Oz', another one of her hair- brained 'exotic atmosphere' schemes. The sight of her in that oversized clichéd hat never failed to make Dawn giggle a little, no matter how many times she had seen it. It was almost as funny as that one time Amy had made Buffy wear it. She smiled warmly towards Dawn.  
  
"Oh, hi Dawnie. We had a rough one last night, and when we got back here we were to tired to do anything but sleep. Sorry we didn't call, but Buffy and Spike were hurt so we had our hands full."  
  
{You weren't the only one.} "Buffy and Spike are hurt? are they ok? Where are they?" Dawn could and would not mask the worry in her voice anymore.  
  
As if on cue, a groggy, still half-asleep Buffy staggered out of the training room situated at the back of the shop. "I'm awake, Aims. I'll have the eye of newt back in the jar in. . ." Buffy stopped short when she realized that there were two sets of eyes boring down on her, one pair filled with slight amusement, the other pair filled with worry.  
  
"B-Buffy, are you okay?" Dawn said meekly, noticing the bandage on the back of the slayer's head.  
  
Dawn's voice snapped Buffy out of her sleep induced state, and the memories of the previous night came flooding back. "Yeah Dawn. Slayer healing kicked in. Im as strong as an ox. . . . with a giant ox-sized headache." Buffy rubbed her head with her left hand while her right hand was handed a cup of coffee from Amy.  
  
"What about Spike?"  
  
"Oh, he's in the basement." Amy answered. "He went in there at sunrise. He's fine too. Got shot in the chest a couple. . . of hundred times. Luckily bullets don't kill vampires."  
  
"That big bad really did a number on all of us didn't he? What was his name again? Donut?" Buffy added.  
  
{Bullets can't kill vamps? Then how did Xander dust that vamp yesterday?}  
  
"Dante, Buffy." Amy corrected. " Speaking of Dante, I've been doing a little digging and found some very intriguing information pertaining to the new big bad."  
  
"Please go on, Giles," Buffy bit out sarcastically as the three of them took a seat at the round conference table. "You know how I 'intrigued' I am by all this demon info. And besides, what makes you think that this Dante guy is anything more than Demon-of-the-week material?"  
  
"In case you did not notice Buffy, he took out an experienced slayer, a master vampire and a powerful witch yesterday without breaking a sweat. This combined with the information I have managed to unearth about him leads me to believe that we should take him seriously so we will survive our next encounter with him. Now do you want to hear what I have to say or not?" Amy was in full 'Giles' mode now and Buffy knew she had a point. She merely nodded and pouted. {I hate it when she puts on her 'leadership' voice.}  
  
"Thank you." Amy answered, before continuing. "I could not find any reference to Dante in the Codex or the watcher's journals, but I did find mention of him in the most peculiar place: In the Scrolls of Camelot."  
  
"Wait a minute," Dawn piped in. "Camelot? I thought Camelot was just a fairytale. And Aims? Could you please take off the Wicked Witch head gear? It's really distracting."  
  
Amy blushed a little, and took off her hat. " To answer your first question Dawn, yes, Camelot did exist. But the fairytales we hear are idealized versions of the true Camelot story. Let's just say that leaving his wife with Lancelot was just one of the mistakes Arthur made. Anyway, during King Arthur's reign, a dark prince was born deep in the bowels of hell. Needless to say, he was very powerful. He quickly gained power and became ruler of all seven hell dimensions. His next feat was to overtake the human dimension. His first target, Camelot. Arthur's forces were no match for his demon horde, and Arthur's own sword, Excalibur, was no match for his demon sword, Alastor."  
  
"So did he succeed in taking over Camelot?" Dawn asked excitedly.  
  
Amy gave Dawn an annoyed glare for interrupting her. "Well, he would have if not for one of his Dark Knights betraying him."  
  
"So, these Dark Knights, they're like 'Knights of The Round, Demon Edition'?" Buffy chipped in.  
  
"Exactly! This Dark Knight, Sparda, was a very unique being. Even though he had a demon soul, his soul was very compassionate, even more so than most human souls. He took pity on the humans, and joined forces with Arthur. With the Dark Knight on they're side, Arthur managed to defeat the demon horde. Sparda himself felled the Dark Prince, ending his reign of terror."  
  
"This is all good and nice, Aims, but where does Dante fit into all this?"  
  
"I'm getting to that!" Amy regathered her train of thought. "Anyway, after achieving victory, Sparda abandoned the demon realm to live in the human world. Even with his heroic deeds and compassionate heart, Arthur, and the people of Camelot would not recognize his valor, even rejecting him, because of his. . . uhm. . . Demon-ness."  
  
"Whoa, that was harsh of Arthur. Talk about being under appreciated." Dawn said.  
  
"Well, it seems that Arthur had a case. Only one woman truly recognized Sparda as the beautiful being that he was, and the two of them fell in love and got married. They had one child, a demon-human hybrid."  
  
"I'll take a wild guess here and say this child's was named Dante." Buffy interrupted.  
  
"Yup. But Dante was not like his father. Even with human blood within him, Dante was a truly evil being. He stole the Alastor, which was at that time in possession of his father, and murdered his own mother in cold blood with it. He then went after Sparda. After battling for three days and three nights, Dante finally managed to defeat his father. However, seeing Dante in his weakened state, Merlin managed to imprison Dante in a sealed vault. Merlin also took the Alastor and sealed it in 'The Gates of Hell'."  
  
Buffy groaned. "You mean Merlin sealed it here? Why does everyone think that any mystical piece of junk would be safe over here?"  
  
"Wait, Buff. I'm not finished. Merlin also transferred the soul and essence of Sparda into every generation a chosen one who is close to the Alastor. In this chosen one, the powers of Sparda will remain dormant until called upon again. These chosen people will share Sparda's fate, not being recognized appreciated for the heroes that they truly are. Merlin dubbed them as the 'White Knights'."  
  
A wave of recognition passed over Buffy. "White Knight? Didn't Dante ask us where the White Knight was yesterday before he kicked our asses?"  
  
"Yes he did. Looks like we have a lot of research to do. Dawn, I want you to look up any reference you can find on the Alastor. As for you Buff, I want you to look up anything you can on the White Knight." Amy commanded as she tossed a bunch of scrolls to each of them.  
  
Buffy and Dawn groaned. It was going to be a long day. 


	6. Part 6

Part 6:  
  
Dawn groaned as she glanced at the clock for the umpteenth time. Six in the evening. She, Buffy and Amy had been holed up in the Magic Box for 7 straight hours, combing through Giles books, journals and scrolls looking for anything that might assist them against this Dante guy. {What a way to spend a Saturday. All in a days work for the sister of a slayer I guess.}  
  
"Ok, let's go through what information we have again." Amy said as she slammed shut another one of Giles's musty old tomes.  
  
Buffy sighed inwardly. {Even Giles was not as anal as Amy is.} "Oh, yes, let's, Amy. just in case any of us have forgotten anything since we discussed it the last time, which was barely an hour ago."  
  
Amy didn't catch the sarcasm in Buffy's voice. "Ok, we know that Dante has somehow escaped Merlin's prison and is currently in Sunnydale searching for the Alastor. What we don't know is where the Alastor is."  
  
"But the good news is that this Dante guy most probably does not know where it is either." Buffy piped in.  
  
Amy nodded before continuing. "Assuming that Dante manages to pinpoint the whereabouts of this sword, he would still need to unbind Merlin's spell. To do this he would need. . ."  
  
"The blood of the righteous, the blood of the repentant and the blood of the tortured. The blood of these souls would have to be pure or the power of the Alastor would be lost from this world forever. Any ideas on who these people could be?" Dawn said as she finished reading from the notes she had taken down.  
  
"Oh, just about anyone in this world." Buffy answered ruefully. "Maybe we'd have more luck searching for this White Knight guy. At least we know that this guy has to be in Sunnydale. Wouldn't he have some cool demony superpowers, Aims?"  
  
"I'm afraid not, Buff. Merlin implanted the powers of Sparda into this man. . ."  
  
"Or woman." Dawn interrupted.  
  
". . .into this PERSON," Amy accentuated her voice during the last part "in a dormant form. So it would be safe to assume that these powers would have to be activated, somehow. Unfortunately, there is no mention in Merlin's scrolls about how we could go about doing this."  
  
"So in other words, we have zilch, nada, a big fat zero when it comes to leads on Dante. Can you say, square one? So, anyone have anymore ideas?" Buffy said as she got up from her chair, straightening out the kinks in her neck.  
  
All three of them were quiet for a moment, trying to think of a solution to their problem.  
  
"I've got it!" Dawn suddenly shouted excitedly.  
  
"What is it?" Buffy asked.  
  
"Well, it's like this. . . uhm. . . ok, ok, I don't got it." Dawn said sheepishly.  
  
Buffy gave her sister a patented death glare before starting to pace back and fourth.  
  
Suddenly, an idea hit Amy. "Drusilla!" she shouted a bit to loudly.  
  
Buffy instinctively got into a defensive stance as her eyes darted around the room, trying to search for any signs of the psychotic vampire. "Where, where?"  
  
"No!" Amy continued. "Didn't you find it weird that Dante was protecting this Drusilla person last night?"  
  
Buffy finally caught on. "You think that Drusilla and Dante are working together?"  
  
"I'm not sure, but she is our only lead at the moment."  
  
"You have a point Aims. Now the only problem is finding Drusilla."  
  
At that point, the door to the basement opened, revealing a disheveled looking Spike. His hair was in a mess, and his shirt was full of bullet holes. He grunted a greeting toward Amy, Buffy and Dawn before walking over to the kitchenette. He took a packet of blood out of the fridge, placed it in a mug and placed it in the microwave.  
  
Both Buffy and Dawn eyed Spike the whole time, a knowing smile on their faces. "Looks like we have our very own Drusilla sniffer."  
  
This caught Spike's attention. "Oi! I'll have you lot know that I haven't done any Dru-sniffing for quite a while now. In fact, I've been clean for nearly two years!"  
  
"Get your mind out of the gutter, Spike, even though that's where it belongs." Buffy said, trying to suppress a giggle. "I'm going on a Drusilla hunting mission tonight, and I need you to track her down for me."  
  
"Oh yeah? And what makes you think I'll help you slayer?"  
  
Buffy's face grew serious for a moment. "Spike, I want to make sure that you're with us a hundred percent on this. You and Drusilla were. . . close, and if you're to emotionally invested in this, then it would be better for all of us if you sit this one out."  
  
Spike recalled the events of the previous night when he tried to stop Buffy from killing Dru. Even though he loved Dru, he was happier with his current situation now then he ever was with her. {Though I'd first crucify myself before admitting that to them.} "Yeah, I'm with it Slayer. Don't worry about me."  
  
"Good. Meet me at my house at ten tonight. Speaking of which, I really need to shower. Come on Dawn." With that, Buffy got up, grabbed her purse and headed toward the exit, motioning for Dawn to follow her.  
  
"Need any help with that shower slayer? Olde William The Bloody would gladly scrub your back!" Spike called out.  
  
Amy ignored Spike's irritating outburst. "If you need anything, I'll be here doing more research, Buff!"  
  
"Ok, Aims. Bye guys." Buffy and Dawn gave a final wave goodbye as they exited the Magic Box.  
  
"So what are your plans for tonight, Dawnie?" Buffy asked as she and Dawn walked down the street to the Summer's residence. She was feeling very guilty for leaving Dawn alone for two nights in a row.  
  
Dawn tensed up immediately. With all this business about Dante and the White Knight, she had totally forgotten about her meeting with Xander tonight. She internally debated whether to tell Buffy about Xander's sudden appearance.  
  
"Dawn? Are you listening to me, honey? What are you going to do tonight?" Buffy repeated her question.  
  
"Oh, same old I guess, Buff. Popcorn and Brad Pitt." Dawn's voice was shaky when she said that. After the whole Spike fiasco, Dawn and Buffy made a pact never to keep secrets from one another. Dawn was relieved that the slayer did not catch the guilt in her voice. {I guess this Dante thing has her more worked up than I thought. Maybe it is best that I not reveal this bombshell about Xander yet. I don't want to put her under even more stress than she is under right now}.  
  
  
  
Dawn checked the address one more time to make sure that she was at the right place. {A warehouse? What the heck would Xander be doing in a warehouse?} She entered the building through an unlocked side door. The spacious inside of the warehouse was dimly lit, with most of it shrouded in darkness. From what Dawn could make out, the warehouse was sparsely furnished with a table and some chairs, a television and a bed.  
  
"Dawn." Xander's familiar, yet alien voice called out to her, as he stepped out from the shadows. "I see you decided to come."  
  
"Way to state the obvious, Xand. This isn't really me, but an evil robot clone of me that's standing in front of you." Dawn tried to cover her sense of uneasiness by babbling. "What's with the warehouse, Xander. You couldn't afford decent living space? And what's with the lighting? If I didn't know better, I'd swear you were living with a vamp. . ."  
  
"Dawn, what the hell are you doing here?" Dawn was cut off by the voice of one very angry slayer stomping towards her, followed by an equally pissed vampire. "Is this your idea of popcorn and Brad Pitt? How many times have I got to tell you, it's not safe to go out alone in the middle of the night. Especially with. . ."  
  
Buffy stopped short when she noticed the figure standing next to her sister. Surely her eyes were playing tricks on her. It couldn't be him, could it?  
  
All four of them stood there, each too surprised to say a word. Spike, who was as equally dumbfounded as Buffy, was the first to speak up. "Bloody hell! Harris?"  
  
Buffy's eyes suddenly widened when she noticed someone sneaking up behind Xander. The figure was decidedly feminine, wearing a beautiful medieval nightgown and had long, brown curly hair.  
  
"Xander, look out!" Buffy shouted before flipping over Xander and catching Drusilla with a drop kick to her chest. Drusilla landed on her back, and Buffy gracefully landed on top of her, stake raised and ready for the kill.  
  
For the second time in as many days, Buffy's stake was inches away from Drusilla's chest. Before the killer blow was delivered however, Buffy felt cold hard steel pressed upon the back of her head.  
  
"Hey Buff, long time no see." Xander said nonchalantly as he undid the safety on his weapon with a click.  
  
  
  
Dante looked upon the goings-on inside the warehouse with great interest. {The White Knight is protecting the Drusilla from the Slayer? Intersting.} But what was even more intriguing was the aura that surrounded the White Knight.  
  
Dante remembered the aura that emanated from his father as being blindingly white. This White Knight's aura, however, was dark, with only a minute spark of white light struggling to survive at the core.  
  
"This might work in my favour." Dante spoke to himself as he turned around and disappeared into a shadows, whistling an unrecognizable tune. 


	7. Part 7

Part 7:  
  
"Xander, you're back. You're alive. You're here. You. . . have a gun pointed at the back of my head. Why do you have a gun pointed at the back of my head?" Buffy said wearily. The three of them, Drusilla on her back, Buffy straddling her, while Xander was behind Buffy aiming the barrel of his Baretta at the back of her neck, stood deathly still, like a piece of art a sculptor had carved out of a block of stone.  
  
"Now listen carefully, Buff, I want you to drop the stake," Xander said in a way to calm voice for Buffy. She complied. "Now I want you to raise your hand . . . VERY slowly, yes that's it, and . . ." Suddenly, without looking away, Xander raised his other gun pointing it directly at Spike's heart, who was trying to sneak up behind him. "Before you even think of doing something stupid, Pooh Bear, these bullets are wood-tipped, and are blessed."  
  
{How the hell did he know I was sneaking up on him? Only daddykins Angelus had senses that sensitive. And how the HELL does the wanker know about the pet name Dru gave me. Pooh Bear. Yuck!}  
  
Xander continued with his orders towards Buffy. "Now Buff, I want you to get off Drusilla, and slowly move towards Dawn. You too, Pooh Bear." Buffy and Spike slowly moved towards Dawn, careful not to make any sudden movements.  
  
Dawn had finally seen enough. "What the hell is going on Xan? What's with the whole John Woo act?" She said while pointing at his guns. "And what are you doing protecting Drusilla? Have you forgotten that she's a vamp?"  
  
Drusilla was poking her head up from behind Xander's shoulders. "Help me, kitten. The bad slayer and her friends tried to hurt mommy last night and now they came here to try again. Mommy's scared." she said in an innocent 'little girl lost' voice, while making faces at Buffy in a childish manner. Xander reached back and stroked Drusilla's hair.  
  
Buffy's mind was on overdrive. {Wait a minute. Her kitten. Xander is Drusilla's kitten? But that means . . . they're together. That's just . . . eeww. Ok, remember what Dr. Stromberg said, Buffy. Approach the problem rationally. Don't let your anger control you.} "What the hell is going on here, Xander?" {Didn't you hear me brain? RATIONAL!} "You disappear for six whole months, letting the rest of us think you were dead, and now you're back with . . . this skank?" {Cool it, Buff! You don't want to infect your anger on anybody else. Anger is not productive!} "I . . .You're friends aren't good enough for you so you go and suck face with psycho dead whore over there?" {Oh shit!}  
  
Xander was livid. "How dare you. You have no idea what I've been through these past six months and you're judging me? You're one to talk. Two words, Buff. Angel, Spike! And which friends are you talking about, Buffy? The same friends who treat me like they're butt-monkey? The same friends who left me that night to kill . . . Her?"  
  
The anger in Buffy's face was being rapidly being replaced by sadness and regret. "But Xander," she said in a voice so quiet it was barely audible. "She's a killer. She fed on someone last night."  
  
Xander sighed. Truthfully, he usually let Dru do whatever she wants, as long as it was out of his sight. But he knew that in a town with the slayer, Dru would most likely get dusted for doing her thing, and he had warned her to drink the store bought stuff while in Sunnydale. Apparently, she didn't heed his warning. "Princess?"  
  
"Yes kitten?"  
  
"Didn't I tell to only drink the stuff I got you from Willy's a couple of days ago while we were in Sunnydale?"  
  
"But, kitten . . ." Drusilla started to whine.  
  
"No buts, Dru. You know it's not safe out there yet you still disobeyed me!" Xander voice took a commanding tone.  
  
"I'm sorry, kitten, I won't do it again." Drusilla was practically sobbing now.  
  
"Oh, Dru I'm sorry I lost my temper. It just that I'm afraid something might happen to you." Xander said, as he pulled Drusilla into a hug, whispering words of comfort in her ear.  
  
Buffy nearly retched at the sight in front of her for reasons she could not pinpoint yet. Sure, there was the yuck factor involved, but there was something more to it . . . {Wait a minute. Dru's not allowed to hunt while they were in Sunnydale? That means other times.}  
  
Buffy did not have anymore time to contemplate Xander's words as he spoke up. "Look Buffy, I've got bigger things to worry about than this. I'll keep Dru in check and make sure she doesn't get into anymore mischief. Don't worry, I don't plan on staying in town for too long. I'll be out of your hair in no time."  
  
Buffy was about to continue arguing, but she was cut off by Spike. "Good on 'ya, mate. We'll be leaving now." With that, he started dragging Buffy and Dawn out the door.  
  
"Wait! I'm not finished, I . . ." Before Buffy could finish, she was pushed out the door by Spike, who promptly followed, shutting the door behind him.  
  
  
  
The door to the Summer's home was slammed opened violently as one extremely incensed slayer stormed into the house, followed by her sister and Spike. The walk home had been silent, mostly because Spike and Dawn were having trouble catching up with Buffy, who was huffing home at a lightning pace.  
  
Buffy entered the living room and plonked herself down on the couch. Dawn sat herself down on the loveseat, while Spike leaned against the door frame.  
  
Everyone was silent for a moment, unsure of anything to say.  
  
Buffy suddenly snapped. "AAGGHHH!! Just when I thought my life was getting back to normal, Xander has to miraculously come back from the dead and become all evil, gun toting, leather Xander. For all we know he could be working for Dante! Hell. he could even BE Dante!  
  
"No he's not! I was with him the other night when you guys met Dante. It couldn't be him!" Dawn cried out.  
  
"And you!" Buffy snapped at her sister. "Don't think your out of the woods, missy. I specifically told you not to go out alone at night and you disobeyed me. You're gr . . . no, you have to do chor . . . just go to your room!"  
  
Dawn got up and stomped towards the stairs. "Xander's not evil. He saved my life . . . again last night." She said before going up to her room.  
  
"Well, that went well." Spike chuckled when Dawn was out of sight. "You managed to make enemies out of your best friend and your sister all in the same night. Even I couldn't do that back when I was evil."  
  
Buffy buried her face in her hands. "I'm just afraid he and Dru might hurt someone."  
  
"Oh, come off it, slayer. We don't know that he's evil. We don't even know what's been of him in the past six months. Besides, you heard Dawn. He saved her last night. Baddies don't help the good guys, it doesn't work that way. As for Dru, you saw how tight a leash he had on her just now. And Dru's always been the submissive type in a relationship, I should know. You and I both know what's really bugging you."  
  
"And what is that, Spike?" Buffy asked with as much venom in her voice as possible.  
  
"I know you have feelings for the boy, slayer." Buffy's eyes widened in shock. "Oh please, I can see it plainly on your face. It's so obvious. Besides, I read that letter he wrote to you that night he died."  
  
"But that letter is in my diary. That means you must have went through my . . ."  
  
"Not important, slayer. Look, my point is this. You care for droopy. But he's in a very dark place right now. He experienced some major trauma in his life this past year. He died and was somehow brought back from the dead. And he's in an unhealthy relationship with a vampire. Sound familiar?" Spike gave Buffy a knowing look.  
  
{He's going through what I went through last year.}Buffy thought to herself.  
  
"Among all of us Buffy, he was the only one who never gave up on you. If you care for him half as much as he cares for you, you won't give up on him either."  
  
  
  
Drusilla wandered through the park singing merrily to herself. She let the moon beams caress her face like a normal human being would do with sunlight. She was now full drinking the blood that Xander had gotten her. However, she was far from satisfied.  
  
She craved the thrill of the hunt; the adrenaline flowing through a tired, fearful human's blood after she had chased him down was much sweeter than any blood Xander could buy for her.  
  
"Kitten can be such a bore sometimes. If only he were truly evil like mommy. Then him and mommy could have some real fun." she said to Miss Edith, whom she was carrying.  
  
Suddenly, she heard a twig snap from behind her. She turned around and a smile formed on her face. "Aahh, good evening, half-breed."  
  
"Nice to see my reputation precedes me, Drusilla." Dante said as he started walking towards her. "I think I have a proposition that might interest you."  
  
  
  
I'd just like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for their feedback, critiques, and support. If anyone has any suggestions (plot contributions, corrections) to actually make this story good (god knows I can't do it alone), please drop me a line using my email addy. 


	8. Part 8

Part 8:  
  
"Xander's what? He's with who? And why didn't anyone bother to tell me last night? You could have at least called." Amy vented after Buffy and Dawn had gone through the events of the night before. The three of them were sitting at the conference table of the Magic Box, which was at the moment hidden underneath a humongous pile of books. Amy had been doing research overtime.  
  
"Whoa there, boss lady." Buffy stopped Amy before she could continue her babbling. "I heard that there's this thing called air that humans need if they want to live. We didn't call you last night because we were still shocked ourselves. It's not everyday that a friend miraculously comes back to life."  
  
"Well, there was that time when Angel came back from hell." Dawn added (not so) helpfully.  
  
"I said friend, Dawn, not boyfriend."  
  
"Could've fooled me with the way you were reacting to that pukefest with Drusilla."  
  
"Look, Dawnie, I know I could have handled that situation better. If Spike hadn't pulled us out of there, I think all of us would have ended up killing each other. Even though he's. . . different, {and the winner of the 'understatement of the year' award is} I still think the old Xander is still in there somewhere, and we've got to find a way to bring him back out."  
  
"But Buffy, he's with Drusilla." Amy cut in. "Non soul having, unchipped, psycho master vamp Drusilla. Are you sure we can trust him?"  
  
"NO! It's Xander. We can trust him. I know it." Dawn rebutted emotionally.  
  
"Amy is right, Dawnie. No matter how much I. . . we want to trust him, there is still a chance that he could be beyond our reach. We don't know where he's been this past six months. We don't even know whether he really is Xander. But I'm still going to try and get through to him. Let's just say I need closure, Aims. Besides, it's not as if we are going to involve him in something big like Dante or anything."  
  
"Speaking of Dante," Amy said, "I couldn't find anything of significance regarding him in my research last night, but I think I may have remembered something important when we faced him the other night."  
  
"Don't keep us in suspense, Aims." Dawn said sarcastically.  
  
"While you and Spike were out and I was in that ring of fire, Buff, I could have sworn I heard Dante say something about us being friends with the White Knight."  
  
"So you're thinking that this White Knight might be someone we know?"  
  
"Yup. So any nominees?"  
  
All three of them racked their brains trying to think of anyone that could possibly be the White Knight. None of them had any idea who this person could be.  
  
"Hmm. Maybe it could be Ben Johnson." Buffy said.  
  
"The cashier at the 7-11? Buffy, he's 75 years old. It's got to be Carl Malone." Dawn said dreamily.  
  
"That football playing jock you have a crush on?" Amy asked. Dawn nodded sheepishly. "Dawn, just because you've probably had fantasies of him in a suit of armor, doesn't mean he's the White Knight."  
  
"I've had fantasies of him in less that that."  
  
"Dawn!" Buffy exclaimed, clutching her ears shut. "That's a whole lot more than what I needed to know!"  
  
Amy let out a heavy sigh. "He could be anyone. Why don't you go to Willy's tonight, Buff, maybe he might know something."  
  
Buffy shrugged. "Good idea Aims. Maybe I could invite Xander to come along. We could even go patrolling. It would be like old times. Give us a chance to talk."  
  
Dawn slapped her forehead {My sister must be the biggest moron ever. She should be Buffy, the romance slayer.} "Great idea, Buff. Get him to open up by reminding him how screwed up our lives are. I'm sure he'll be talkative after you've patrolled the cemetery where all his loved ones are buried."  
  
"What do you suggest, smarty-pants?" Buffy fired back.  
  
"Number one; smarty-pants? How 'Happy Days' is that? Number two; why don't you and him spend a normal day together? Anything devoid of Hellmouthy-ness."  
  
"Oh! I know!" Amy chimed in "The carnival's in town. Why don't you bring him there today?"  
  
"What? I should just go up to his warehouse, knock on the door and ask him to the carnival?" Buffy asked sarcastically.  
  
"Yes." Dawn and Amy chorused nonchalantly.  
  
Buffy thought about it for a minute. {A normal day with an old friend. Granted that friend is supposed to be dead, but considering where we are, I'll take them as I get them.} "Alright, I might be crazy, but I'll do what you two say. But before you say anything, let me clarify that this is not a date. This is just two friends going out together to catch up on old times. Are we clear?"  
  
"Crystal." Amy answered, puzzled.  
  
"If you were any clearer, I'd see right through you." Dawn answered, trying to hold back a laugh. {I knew it! Buffy has feelings for Xander. About bloody time.}  
  
"Good. Just so we have everything clear. Anyway, I might be out the whole day. So you stay here with Amy, Dawn. Spike should be here by sundown. He can take you guys to my house. You up for Dawn sittage tonight, Amy?"  
  
"Sure, Buff."  
  
"And before you complain about needing a sitter, Dawn, let me remind you that you did sneak out two nights in a row. And with Dante running around, I don't want you to be alone."  
  
"I didn't say anything, Buff." Dawn answered way to sweetly. "I wouldn't want to get in the way of your 'non' date."  
  
"Buffy just glared at her. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go. . . prepare. . . for this non date." Buffy practically flew out of the Magic Box. {Oh my god, my hairs a mess. What am I going to wear? Make-up, make- up!}  
  
Amy scratched her head in confusion. "Did I just miss something?"  
  
Dawn could only offer a knowing smile.  
  
  
  
Xander was awakened by the sound of knocking on his door. He turned around to look at his digital alarm clock, which was providing the only source of light in the dark warehouse. {12 noon? Who'd be bothering us at this time of day?}He stumbled towards the door in a sleep induced, shirtless state, and opened it carefully to make sure Drusilla was not exposed to the sun.  
  
He was greeted by an angel.  
  
No, it was better than an angel.  
  
It was Buffy.  
  
Her golden mane, which shined in the afternoon sky, was tied back in a ponytail. She was wearing a white floral dress, which managed to show off her ripe curves while still maintaining an innocent look, and a pair of high heeled shoes that accentuated her already shapely legs.  
  
In short, she was beautiful.  
  
For a moment, he felt sixteen again. {She's more beautiful today than she was the first day I met her.} "B. . . Buffy." he stuttered. The moment was lost however, when his memories finally decided to return to his head. "What do you want?" he spat out coldly.  
  
"Hey Xand." Two thoughts were running through Buffy's head at the time. One was why she was feeling so shy towards Xander. After all, he was only an old friend. {Isn't he?} The second, more prominent one was. . .  
  
{Damn, he looks hot bare chested.}  
  
"I repeat, what do you want, Buffy? Decided to come and finish the job with Dru?"  
  
"Look, Xander, I know we went off on the wrong foot yesterday, and I thought we could start over. What do you say, you, me and all the candy floss you can eat?" Buffy asked as she held out two carnival tickets. "I know you can't resist the sweet, flossy goodness."  
  
Xander stood there, unsure whether he should go or not. On one hand, he didn't want to open his heart to anyone ever again, for fear of being hurt. The last person he had completely opened his heart to was. . . Her.  
  
{On the other hand, this IS Buffy, asking me out. Hell must be freezing over.}  
  
"What, Xander? Afraid 'mummy' won't let you out?"  
  
{Damn. This woman always knew how to push my buttons. . . get your mind out of the gutter, Xand.} "Wait a minute while I get dressed."  
  
  
  
Drusilla got out of the bed as her kitten left with the slayer. She had pretended to be asleep the whole time. She had to admit that this turn of events were unexpected. She did not foresee that her kitten's dark heart could be cracking under the pressure of the white light that resided within it.  
  
{I hope that this does not interfere with our plans.} 


	9. Part 9(a)

Part 9(a):  
  
"Finally, we're here. One more minute in the car and I would have grown roots." Xander whined as he stepped out of Buffy's car, stretching himself.  
  
"Oh, come on. It wasn't that long. We only got a little lost."  
  
"A little lost? Buffy, I could have sworn I saw corn growing on the roadside!"  
  
"For the last time, there was no corn! The roadside was cornless! Un- corned! All things devoid of corn-i-ness!"  
  
"Oh yeah? Then what do you call that building with the giant cob for the sign?"  
  
"Xander, that was a corn canning factory. Contrary to popular belief, corn does not grow in cans. They grow on trees. . . bushes. . . plant-ish things."  
  
Xander looked genuinely thoughtful for the moment. "Really?"  
  
Buffy rolled her eyes. "Really, Xand."  
  
"Well, I'm sorry if my brain was not at peak performance just now. I was overcome by the fear for my life. Could you tell me the name of your driving instructor so I can kill him?"  
  
"Oh come on. It wasn't as if I actually hit that cyclist! I just kinda. . . nicked him on the side."  
  
"In some countries, Buffy, that 'nick on the side', as you call it, is known as a 'hit and run'."  
  
"It was his fault. He shouldn't have been on my side of the road. Besides, I have a license. I am a legal driver. Hear me roar."  
  
Xander smiled mischievously. "Yeah, but you had to use your feminine wiles to get the license."  
  
"Is there anything wrong with my feminine wiles?" Buffy cooed seductively as she gave an exaggerated swish of her ass.  
  
Xander gulped. "Nothing. Nothing at all."  
  
Buffy grinned. "I don't know why you complain so much. Willow was just as bad a driver as me and you always went everywhere with her. You even let her drive your car!"  
  
Xander's expression dropped instantly at the mention of Willow's name. Buffy mentally slapped herself. {Way to go, Buff. He was finally opening up to you and you had to mention Willow.} The drive to the carnival had been quiet, at first. But then Buffy had made a wrong turn and they wound up on some back road with no idea where they were. Xander had made a smart comment about Buffy not knowing what a map was, Buffy retorted about Xander not knowing how to read anyway and the banter had begun. It was like the old days when they would just trade light hearted insults which were not meant to be hurtful, but rather demonstrate the closeness and understanding they shared with each other.  
  
Buffy sighed. Many times before, it was Xander who had been the one to try and get her to open up, Xander who had been the one to try and make her feel better. Now that the roles were reversed, she had to admit that being the cheer-er rather than the cheer-ee was not as easy as it looks. Well, she had dug herself into the hole by mentioning Willow, so now she had to dig herself out of it. Maybe a subtle change of the subject would do the trick.  
  
"Isn't this nice weather we're having today?" Buffy said as she started walking towards the carnival entrance. {Smooth, Buffy. Do you have any idea how subtle that wasn't? Way to go.}  
  
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"Nope, this isn't weird, not at all."  
  
"Come on, Xand, this is fun. See, this is me having fun." Buffy said, as she spun the mechanism that twirled the teacups faster.  
  
"Buffy, in case you didn't notice, we are sitting in a giant spinning teacup. Even with the odd crap we've been through, this takes the cake. And I think that you are enjoying this way to much."  
  
Buffy's lips curled up into a wistful smile. "When I was younger, my dad would always take me to the carnival when it came to town. And our first destination would always be the teacups. We would ride them again and again until we were on the verge of yakking, and then we'd ride them again. So I guess teacups just reminds me of better days."  
  
Xander listened attentively (well, as attentive as possible considering he was spinning inside an oversized teacup). When the slayer finished relating her story, he gave her a gentle nod and a reassuring smile. He then put his hands on top of Buffy's, which were still spinning the mechanism, and helped her make the teacup twirl even faster. Childlike laughter filled the air as the two of them spun the teacup so fast, they thought they were going to puke their guts' out.  
  
{Maybe there's still hope for you yet, Xander Harris.}  
  
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"Ok, now that we've finished with the girly rides," Xander said as he and Buffy exited the teacups, "lets go on the manly rides." He made an exaggerated show of his muscles as he finished the sentence.  
  
"Are we talking normal manly, or Xander Harris manly?"  
  
"There's a difference?"  
  
"Of course there is. For example, under the normal code of manliness, a manly ride would be the roller coaster. But under the Xander Harris code of manliness, a manly carnival ride would be the carousel."  
  
"Hey, I am to manly! I'll have you know that I never put the toilet seat down, I can crush beer cans on my head and I can burp the ABC. I have all the skills needed to pass the code of manliness entrance test."  
  
"If you're so manly, then why did you cry at the end of 'Into the Night: The Movie'?" Buffy giggled.  
  
"But the ending was so sad, they had found each other, only to. . ." Buffy giggled even harder as Xander caught himself in the middle of that sentence. "Oh, you are so lucky that you are paying for this date, Buffy Summers!"  
  
Buffy's face suddenly turned beet red. "D-d-date? No, no, no, this isn't a date. This is just. . . two friends meeting at a predetermined time and place to have fun."  
  
Xander wore a puzzled look. {Why is she so uncomfortable about me calling this a date?} He decided not to dwell on that thought. His lips suddenly broke out in a mischievous grin as he realized that this was a great situation for his favourite hobby, Slayer tease-age. "And how is what you described not a date, Buffy?"  
  
Buffy hem and hawed for an answer {She's so cute when she does that}, but before she could think of one, Xander spoke with a mock serious tone. "Look Buffy, the only way you can work out whether this is a date or not is through the 20 buck rule."  
  
At Buffy's puzzled look, he continued. "If you spend more than 20 bucks on a girl slash guy, or in my case, girly man, it's considered a date. Less than 20 bucks and it's just a friend thing."  
  
Buffy quickly started adding in her mind. {6 bucks for the tickets, 5 bucks for petrol. . .}  
  
"I'm sure you can do the math while walking Buff, so lets go. You've got a lot of cash dropping to do." Xander said with a smile as he pulled a distracted, number crunching Buffy along with him.  
  
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"Hold my cotton candy for me Buff, while I try to win milady a prize."  
  
"Why thank you kind sir." Buffy said in a mock British accent as she gave an exaggerated curtsy.  
  
"Who says I'm winning it for you?" Xander asked with an impish grin.  
  
A slayer strength enhanced swat on the arm wiped that grin off his face immediately. "Xander! You'd better be winning it for me since I'm the one footing the bill."  
  
Xander rubbed his arm as he stuck his tongue out at the slayer. She responded by taking a big bite out of his cotton candy. Xander returned to the task at hand. It was one of those carny shooting games. This particular one involved shooting a pistol loaded with rubber bullets at various target. It was quite difficult for an inexperienced hand.  
  
But Xander was far from inexperienced.  
  
He had 5 chances to shoot down as many objects of varying difficulty as possible. In a blink of an eye, Xander Harris was gone, in his place a totally different person. His face was emotionless, unlike the animated facial features of the normal Xander. He held up the weapon in a classic two handed grip, his breathing disturbingly even, his body still, muscles unmoving. Time seemed to slow to a crawl as he let go with five quick successive shots, each one hitting the objects furthest away from him, and by default, the hardest ones to target.  
  
Buffy stood there, jaw agape, as she saw this sudden transformation in him. This man wearing her former best friend's {now maybe more} face scared her. {Where had he learnt to shoot like that? If he can do that with a fake gun, imagine what can he do with a real one. Damn. It's a good thing I didn't try to take him last night. I would have ended up as Swiss Cheese Buffy.}  
  
The man running the booth was just as impressed as Buffy. "Good shooting there, Tex. I've never seen anyone pull of something like that before. You can have any prize you want."  
  
Just as suddenly as it had disappeared, Xander's goofy persona returned. He turned towards Buffy, a lopsided grin plastered on his face. "Hear that Buff? A carny just praised me. That gives me a happy. So, which prize do you want?"  
  
Buffy snapped out of the reverie at the mention of the word 'prize'. "Uhm. . ." She scanned the stuffed animals that adorned the walls of the booth. "Ooh, ooh I want that one. . ." She said with childlike glee as she pointed towards a stuffed giraffe ". . .but I also want that one!" She said as she pointed towards a stuffed pig that looked exactly like Mr. Gordo. She turned towards Xander, gazing at him with puppy dog eyes, her lips in a pout.  
  
"Here you go, kid." The carny interrupted as he handed both the giraffe and the pig to Xander. "With the skills you possess, I wouldn't want to get on your bad side." The man's voice did not hold a fearful tone, but rather one of respect and admiration.  
  
"Thanks, mister." Xander turned towards Buffy as he handed the stuffed pig to Buffy. "I'll hold on to the giraffe since you have your hands full."  
  
"My hero." Buffy said and gave him a smile.  
  
"Always." Xander rewarded Buffy with an equally radiant smile.  
  
The two of them stood there awkwardly, unsure of what to say next. {Way to telegraph an awkward moment.}Xander suddenly noticed a stray bit of cotton candy on Buffy's nose. "Uh, Buff, you've got something on your. . ." he grazed his nose with his fingers.  
  
Buffy tried to reach the candy floss stuck on her face in vein, since her both her hands were in use. Xander sighed and stepped closer to Buffy, cupped her face in his left hand and removed the offending piece of floss from Buffy's nose gently with his right. Almost instinctively, he liberated the sweet candy from his fingers by licking it.  
  
Buffy's breath was caught in her throat and Xander wasn't doing any better. The atmosphere around the two was definitely electric. They're faces inched closer to each other, oblivious to the goings on around them. "23 bucks." Buffy whispered.  
  
"What?" Xander breathed out.  
  
"I spent 23 bucks tonight. According to the rules, this is considered a. . ." Buffy couldn't finish the sentence before they're lips met in a tender kiss. The world and they're problems melted away as they connected in one of the most intimate ways possible.  
  
It seems that both of them came to their senses at the same time. They jumped away from each other as both of them realized what they were doing.  
  
"Xand. . ."  
  
"Buff. . ."  
  
Both of them spoke at the same time, tripping on each other's words. Both of them just stood there, thinking exactly the same thing.  
  
{Damn this is awkward.}  
  
"Oh, look at the time!" Buffy said a bit too forcefully, breaking the silence. "I think it's about time we shove off." She started towards the exit, Xander following her from a safe distance. He didn't want to invade her personal space, which seemed to be a three meter radius at that point.  
  
"Crazy kids." The carny chuckled as he saw them walking off. " I hope they make it through their problems. They're a cute couple."  
  
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{Tonight's the night.} Dante thought to himself. {Hundreds of years spent waiting, culminating in this night. One way or another, I will regain the power I deserve. No one will stand in my way.}  
  
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	10. Part 9(b)

Part 9(b):  
  
The silence was deafening.  
  
A clichéd saying, but one that fit the situation in Buffy's car perfectly.  
  
Buffy sat in the driver's seat rigidly, her eyes glued to the front of the road as if her life depended on it (and it did, considering she was the driver). She was making an effort to make the least eye contact with anything {and anyone} in the car. In fact, so engrossed was she with the road that her driving was uncharacteristically exemplary.  
  
Not that Xander had noticed.  
  
He was slumped in the passenger seat, one hand dangling out of the open window, the other one clutching to the stuffed giraffe he had won earlier. His face held a stoic expression, and his eyes were transfixed on the scenery that was whizzing by. {How did things get so complicated so fast?}  
  
His plan had been such a simple one at first. Get into town, try and help the gang without being seen, and get the hell out of dodge as fast as possible. But he knew the plan would fail the moment he heard Dawn's voice that night in the cemetery. From then everything had gone down hill. He still did not know anything about this great evil that was supposed to threaten Sunnydale. . . again. He had been found out by the gang.  
  
And now there was the whole carnival fiasco with Buffy.  
  
{You know you aren't supposed to be having these feelings for her. You don't deserve Buffy anymore. You were always the most vocal about her relationships with Angel and Spike. They could never and will never supply her with the happiness she deserves. And now you're in the same boat as them.}  
  
Xander let out a bitter laugh inside his head. He couldn't believe he was identifying with Angel and Spike. But he felt that he was like them. He was teetering on the edge of good and evil. He felt dead inside, and when you feel dead, you are dead.  
  
Buffy was doing no better. At that time, her body was engaging an internal war. On one side, her heart was screaming to her that the man beside her was Xander, her old friend, whom she was developing feelings for, and she should grab him, hold him tight and never let him go. On the other side, her brain was telling her in a cool and calm manner that she should be cautious and not get too intimately involved with Xander yet. After all, she didn't know that she could trust him yet. Some of the things she's seen him do these past two days weren't exactly of the good.  
  
"Look Xander, I. . ."  
  
She was cut short by a piercing scream coming from a nearby park they were passing by. Buffy slammed on the brakes, parking her automobile by the side of the road. She reached over towards Xander's side of the car and opened the glove compartment, which housed a variety of undead killing weapons. She took out a couple of stakes and a vial of holy water. She looked towards Xander and the two shared a nod, before exiting the car at the same time.  
  
After he exited the car, Xander reached into his leather duster and produced his dual barettas. He undid the clip of each weapon to make sure they weren't empty, before jamming them back into the gun with a click and undoing the safety.  
  
Buffy observed all this, a bemused look on her face. "You brought your guns on our date?"  
  
"And aren't you glad now that I did? Besides, you're one to talk, miss 'Slayer Mobile'." He retorted as he pointed to the two stakes in her hand.  
  
Buffy's comeback was interrupted by another shriek. "Can't I say two words without being interrupted by a blood curdling scream? Come on, Xan Wonder. It's slayer time."  
  
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{15 vamps. Shit. This would be hard enough with Amy and Spike. No body though. Where did the scream come from? Maybe the victim got away. Ok Buffy, plan time. Fight or flee? I'm thinking flee.}  
  
"What, do you think, Xan. . . Xan? Xander?" Buffy whispered as she scanned they're hiding place in a bush overlooking a clearing where the vampires were. {Great. Just when I thought things couldn't get worse. Now Xander has to go Houdini on me. He should be more careful. He might be Chow Yun Fat now but. . .}  
  
Her internal monologue was interrupted by a familiar voice that came from among the trees behind the vampires. "Ooh, it's a fangoid meeting. What is this, the 'Blood Type of The Month' club?"  
  
The vampire congregations turned around to confront the person who dared interrupt them. "Human." The lead vampire growled. "What do you think boys? Our original menu got away but this one just might do the trick."  
  
"I don't know boss." said a short, annoying looking vamp in a squeaky voice. "He doesn't look very appetizing. Betcha his blood's watered down."  
  
"I'd say 'bite me' but you guys are planning to do that anyway." Xander retorted as he tucked his hands into his leather duster. "So I'll just say 'bring it'."  
  
"Arrogant human. You think you can face us without any weapons?"  
  
"I'll just use anything I find lying around."  
  
"Tom, Dick, Harry, hurry up and kill him. I'm thirsty." The lead vampire said nonchalantly as he turned away from Xander, waving his hand around in the air dismissively.  
  
Tom, Dick and Harry advanced towards Xander, morphing into their game faces, they're evil smiles showing off their sharp teeth.  
  
"Whoa, whoa there guys, could we talk about this?" Xander said as the three vampires were around a meter in front of him.  
  
"We are not in the mood to talk, human. We. . ."  
  
Xander's hands whipped out from under the cover of his duster like lightning, holding his two 'friends'. Before Tom could finish his tirade, Xander had fired three shots, each one aimed towards the chests of the three vampires stalking him. They were dusted immediately.  
  
"Neither am I."  
  
The lead vampire turned around when he heard the shots being fired. "W-what?" he said, his yellow, feral eyes wide with shock.  
  
"It's amazing what people leave lying around these days." Xander said with a smile as he . "Now what say we get to the part where I'm dusting you off my clothes?"  
  
"KILL HIM!"  
  
Xander took cover behind the trees and started picking the vamps off one by one. He hoped to take out as many as possible before he had to go 'hands on'. He had managed to dust five and injure a few more from long distance before a vamp finally managed to get close enough to him. The vampire lunged straight for his neck but he spun around causing the vampire to miss him completely and tumble to the ground. As he was spinning around, Xander instinctively stuck out his elbow which connected with a second vampire who had also managed to reach him. After a complete 360 degree spin he was facing the first vampire again and let go with a shot from the gun on his left hand, dusting the vampire. Without looking, he pointed his other gun towards the broken nosed vampire and let loose with another shot which also reduced the vampire to dust.  
  
Suddenly, Xander felt a pair of strong arms around his waist and was thrown out of the cover provided by the trees and into the clearing. The vampire who had used him as a javelin and another one advanced towards him. One of the vamps, who was nearly seven feet tall, lifted him up by the scruff of his neck. Using this opportunity, Xander kicked both his feet out at the vampire, using him as a springboard. The vampire had no choice but to let Xander go, and even before Xander's back felt the ground, he fired a shot at the vamp's head, dusting him.  
  
The moment Xander fell to the ground, he felt a jolting pain travel up his left arm. One of the vamps was stepping on it, trying to free the gun which was in it's grasp. Xander tried to use the gun in his right hand, but before he could make a shot, another vampire gripped it tightly, trying to liberate it form his grasp.  
  
While trying to overcome the pain in his left hand and wrestling the vamp which was trying to get the gun on his right, his lips managed to croak out "If you're thinking about helping, Buff, now. . . would be a good. . . time."  
  
Xander's call for help snapped Buffy out of her reverie. She jumped out of the bushes, running towards her helpless friend. She nonchalantly dusted a vampire who was trying to get up after being shot in the leg as she passed him. When she reached Xander, she lashed out a vicious roundhouse kick at the vamp who was stepping on Xander's left hand. The vampire fell to the ground unceremoniously and was quickly introduced to the sharp end of Buffy's stake.  
  
As Xander felt his left arm being freed, he lashed out the butt of his sidearm at the temple of the vamp he was wrestling. He got up far more quickly and gracefully than the vampire, and easily dusted the undead creature with a shot to the head.  
  
Together, Buffy and Xander managed to take out the remaining demons relatively easily until only the leader remained. Xander had managed to put a at least one bullet into each one of his limbs. The vampire was now lying helplessly on his back, looking up toward the slayer and her knight in shining armour.  
  
"So who gets the honours?" Buffy asked, her eyes never leaving the sprawled figure beneath her.  
  
"You do it. He's not worth the cost of these bullets."  
  
Buffy hurled a stake towards the vamps heart, and after the dust had settled, only the stake remained, embedded in the ground. Xander and Buffy turned towards each other, sharing a triumphant grin.  
  
Suddenly, Xander felt a finger tapping on his shoulder. Still in an adrenaline rush from the fight, Xander quickly spun around and pointed a gun towards the finger's owner.  
  
Buffy's eyes widened as she got a better look at the figure. "Xander, don't, she's. . ." But before she could completely voice her protest, Xander had already pulled the trigger.  
  
*Click*  
  
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Author's notes  
  
To Amelia: Expect some X/Druness in the next part or two as I start to explore some of the still unanswered questions in the plot. 


	11. Part 10(a)

Part 10(a):  
  
{Nope. not a good day at all.} Emily Kujawa thought to herself as she stared down the barrel of a Baretta 96G Elite. She had woken up late earlier that morning. Compound that with the fact that her car could not start, and she was late for work. When she did arrive at work, she had found out that she was going to be laid off in a month's time. She had also ruined her favourite pair of shoes by stepping into a puddle of mud which she had not noticed.  
  
She had thought that a late evening-early night stroll might clear her head a bit after the suckiness that was her day. But that was before she was attacked by a gang high on PCP. For some reason, they had let her go. {something about the thrill of the hunt.} Before they could hunt her down though, she was saved by a pair of strangers who somehow fought off the gang. The gang had magically disappeared, as if turning into dust. Glad that at least something had gone right for her, she went to thank her saviours. What she did not expect however, was one of her 'saviours' practically shoving a gun down her throat.  
  
Emily closed her eyes. {This is it. I'm gonna die.}It was as if time had slowed down just for her. In an instant she relieved her 24 year existence. She thought she heard the companion of the man who would take her life from her say something, but it was drowned out by the deafening click of the weapon's trigger as it was pulled.  
  
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*Click*  
  
{No bang. Why is there no bang? Thank god, he's out of bullets!} Buffy knocked the gun out of Xander's hand. "She's human!"  
  
Xander did not respond for a moment, just looking at Buffy with a blank expression. Suddenly, he blinked, as if coming out of a trance. He turned to look at the girl he nearly killed, a cold expression on his face.  
  
"Run home. Don't look back. NOW!"  
  
Too overcome with fright and shock, the girl did as she was told, and ran off into the night.  
  
Xander sighed and squatted down to pick up his sidearm. He started turning the weapon from side to side, checking for any damage. Suddenly, however, Xander was face to face with a pair of angry looking slayer shaped knees.  
  
He looked up slowly. {Yup. Just as I thought. Royally inflamed Buffy.}  
  
Buffy was incensed. This was just too close to the situation involving a certain rogue slayer a few years back for Buffy's liking. She knew she had to handle this matter delicately to avoid another Faith fiasco. {When you kill someone, there's no turning back. Oh my god? HAS he already killed someone? Please don't let me be too late.}  
  
"What the hell was that Xander?" Buffy snapped. {Ok. Not the best way to handle this.}  
  
Xander stood up to face the slayer. "No biggie, Buff, no one kicked." He tossed out dismissively, a lopsided grin on his face.  
  
"No biggie? Xander, what the hell is wrong with you?"  
  
Xander could feel his own anger welling up now. "Why don't you tell me? You seem to know everything." He said sarcastically.  
  
"Well, for one, you disappear for six months and you haven't told me what happened during that time. You show no regard for human life, evidenced by what just happened. And worst of all, you're with that. . . that. . . thing!"  
  
"So that's what this is about isn't it? My relationship with Dru."  
  
"Xander, she's a monster, a killer."  
  
"And what was Angel, and what is Spike? I'll give you a clue, they're not fucking boyscouts."  
  
"I know, Xander, I realized that being with the enemy is just plain stupid, with or without a soul or chip. I broke it off with Spike a long time ago. Please, don't make the same mistake I did. If you sleep with the dead, you'll become as dead as them." Buffy spoke with a softer tone.  
  
Xander was not about to relent. "Why the hell would you care about what happens to me?"  
  
"Xander, I'm your friend. Of course I care."  
  
Xander let out a snort. "You care? If you care so much for me, Buff, then tell me where you were that night? Which twisted dictionary defines friendship as leaving your friend to kill another one? "  
  
"I didn't ask you to kill Willow, Xander." Buffy's voice was quickly gaining an edge.  
  
Xander winced at the mention of his childhood friend's name. "Oh of course. That wasn't your fault. Saint Buffy can do no wrong. Well let's look at the facts shall we? Willow started to go bad when she did the spell to resurrect you. Did I mention how grateful you were NOT to us? Your inability to confront Willow earlier gave her the opportunity to unleash that invincible demon. Your decision to bring the gang to face the demon on a suicide mission instead of facing Willow gave me no choice but to take care of her myself." Xander shuddered at the cold and clinical way he was talking about his deceased comrade. "For some reason, I actually cared about you people back then. How stupid I was."  
  
Buffy was speechless. Hearing Xander say these hurtful things toward her was especially painful, since there was a small part of her that believed the things she heard. There was also another emotion overcoming her. Anger. Each word that came out of Xander's mouth was acting as fuel for her rage.  
  
Seeing that Buffy had no comeback, Xander continued. "I blame YOU, Buffy. You have Willow's blood in your hands!"  
  
Deep down, Buffy knew that what Xander did not mean what he was saying. She knew that he had a lot of pent up rage and guilt and he was just letting it all out. But hearing Xander verbally attack her brought out her primitive slayer self defence mechanism. As if on auto pilot her hand balled up into a fist and swung out, catching Xander in the jaw, flooring him.  
  
She stood over him, hatred clearly visible in her eyes. {No, Buffy, don't say it. You don't really mean it!}"I don't want to ever see your face again."  
  
With that, she turned around and started to walk calmly back to her car, trying to hold back the tears already forming in her eyes.  
  
Xander looked on as Buffy walked out of his life, maybe for good this time. He had known that this was going to happen. {What made you think that there was any hope for you among the living, Harris? Screw this. Big bad or no big bad, she won't want your help anymore. Just go find Dru and get the hell out of this town.}  
  
Short part, i know. Parts 9 and 10 were not supposed to have sub parts, but i ended up fleshing out the parts too much and had to break them up to maintain word count consistency. Anyway, expect Dante and Dru's plan to be unveiled in part 10(b). I'll also explore how Dru and Xander hooked up in that part. I promise!!!  
  
And Bolo, responding to your query, Xander is the one thinking he isn't good enough for Buffy. Xander's character is like that. That doesn't mean that what he thinks is true. 


	12. Part 10(b)

Part 10(b):  
  
Xander got up, dusting himself off. {I had nearly forgotten how strong a slayer was. Good thing I've got a painful reminder now. Yay me.} He thought sarcastically, touching his jaw, wincing when his fingers grazed the purple swell that was already forming.  
  
{Now, if I were a beautiful, psychopathic vampire, where would I be?} His thoughts turned towards Drusilla. It was already 10:30 pm and he wanted to be as far away from Sunnydale as possible by daybreak. {I don't want to be out on the road at sunrise. A Dru-shaped pile of dust does not make pleasant company. What could we talk about? 'Been in any good ashtrays lately?'} He set off to find his vampiric companion.  
  
He hadn't walked two steps, however, before he heard a rustling from behind him along with the pleasen tingle he got in the back of his neck when she was around. (Looks like she found me.} "Hey Dru, listen, let's go pick up Miss Edith, and. . ." He stopped mid sentence as he saw her.  
  
"You know, Dru, people don't usually make lots of friends by playing rough."  
  
Drusilla was standing in front of him in a pink floral dress, her face the picture of innocence. In front of her was a girl who looked to be in her mid twenties, bound, gagged and on her knees. Tears were flowing down her cheek, as Drusilla absently twirled her sandy hair. Xander recognized the girl instantly.  
  
{It's the girl I nearly shot just now. What the hell is she doing here? I told her to go home.} Xander wondered what game Dru was playing at. {Is she going to feed on her? She's never fed on anyone in front of me before.} The issue of Drusilla's nutritional habits had never been an issue to the couple, before. Just another example of the tightrope between good and evil Xander had been balancing himself on.  
  
"She's been a very naughty, girl, hasn't she?" Drusilla said in a sing song voice while grabbing her helpless captive's hair.  
  
"What are you talking about, Dru?"  
  
"Well, didn't she make the slayer angry at my kitten? She should be punished." Drusilla grinned, licking her lips seductively. "She should hurt for what she did to you. I want to hear her scream. Maybe a few holes in her body would help her make that delicious sound. Make her shriek for mommy, kitten." Drusilla kicked her from the back, causing her to fall on her face in front of Xander.  
  
Xander bent down, forcing the girl to look at him by holding her head by the hair. Xander could see the fear in her eyes as she shook her head vehemently, silently begging for him to show her mercy. He had to admit that he felt a certain thrill holding this tiny, insignificant life in his hand. {So this is what power feels like. It feels nice. . . in a scary kind of way.}  
  
Sensing Xander's hesitation, Drusilla continued. "Come kitten, do it for your mommy. Don't you want to make me happy? We've been through so much this past five and a half months. Don't you remember when mommy found you? Mommy was so happy that night."  
  
@@@@@FLASHBACK: TWO WEEKS AFTER 'WE WENT WRONG'.@@@@@  
  
Drusilla sat on her four post bed, which was located in one of the many rooms scattered in the abandoned warehouse she had decided to set up residence in a few months earlier. In front of her was a set of toy China that was arranged to accommodate 'tea' for three people. At the moment the three people who were enjoying the 'meal' were herself, Miss Edith and Jarod, whom she had turned a few nights before.  
  
She took a sip out of her plastic toy cup and let out an appreciative 'aahh'. "Doesn't Miss Edith make the most yummy tea, Jarod? Come now, take a sip."  
  
"I don't know about you, mistress, but this tea tastes a lot like air to me." He answered defiantly.  
  
Drusilla's hand snapped forward, gripping her childe by the genitalia. "See what you've done now?" She said with a pout. "You've made Miss Edith sad. Now apologize to her before something bad happens. MY brand new dress is so clean and I don't want to dirty it with your liquid."  
  
"S-s-sorry, Miss E-Edith." Jarod said in a very unmanly voice, so fearful was he that he didn't find it ridiculous that he was apologizing to a stuffed doll. He grabbed the plastic cup with his trembling fingers, and made a show of drinking it. "Mmm. . . t-this tea is delicious. P-please, ma'am, could I h-have some more?"  
  
Drusilla just stared at him for a moment, contemplating whether to rip his head from his body or not. In the end though, she sighed and let him go. "No use killing you when he's coming to do so anyway."  
  
Jarod's face contorted in confusion. "Whose coming, mistress?"  
  
Drusilla giggled childishly. "Why, the White Knight of course, silly! The White Knight with the heart of darkness! He'll destroy you all."  
  
Jarod inwardly squirmed. He had heard from the others about his mistresses prophetic powers. Though the stench of fear was coming off him in waves, he tried to mask it with false bravado. "Who would be stupid enough to try and defy us mistress? There are fifteen of us guarding this warehouse. Don't worry, nothing will harm you."  
  
"Don't worry, darling Jarod, I won't."  
  
As if on cue, the door to the outside burst open, and in limped another one of Drusilla's minions. "He's. . . too strong. Everyone's gone. I'm. . ." He didn't have a chance to finish as two loud shots filled the air and he immediately evaporated into dust. A figure stepped through the cloud of dust, his dual Barettas leaving matching smoke trails in their wake.  
  
Jarod, sensing that his mistress was in danger, got off the bed and lunged towards the figure, fangs first. From his scent, Jarod had concluded that he was human, and what could a puny human do to hurt him, a powerful vampire? Sure, this human was armed, but guns don't kill vampires, do they?  
  
Do they?  
  
Imagine his surprise when the man's leg lashed out and connected with his stomach in mid air. He fell to the ground, clutching his abdomen in pain. He felt himself being lifted by the throat, and a smooth, cold object being pressed to his chest.  
  
*bang*  
  
And just like that, Jarod was one with the wind.  
  
After the dust had settled, the figure turned towards Drusilla, who had been watching the scene unfold before her with childlike curiosity and fascination. He moved toward her like a tiger stalking it's prey, going in for the kill.  
  
Drusilla slowly backed up, trying to get away from this madman, until her back connected with the headboard of her bed. She felt herself being suffocated by the grip of fear, one of the very few times in her unlife that she had ever felt that emotion.  
  
Her fear vanished however, when he was close enough for her to see his face.  
  
It was. . . {Him. I wanted him before, but Angelus wouldn't let me have him. Pappy said that he didn't have potential. But I can see the darkness that fuels his soul. Even as a mortal he has more potential than daddykins ever had. He's crying. Why is my baby. . . my kitten crying? I'll rip out the hearts of the people responsible for this.}  
  
"Why. . . why won't they kill me? Why don't they see that I just want to die?" Xander said in a raspy voice, tears soaking his face. He had recognized Drusilla the moment he had entered the room, but now, when he was so close to finishing her off, he just couldn't bring himself to pull the trigger one more time. She reminded him off his past, when everyone was alright, by hellmouth standards at least, and in his confused state, he was compelled to speak to her.  
  
Drusilla leapt up and pulled him into a tight hug, stroking his back lightly and whispering soothing words into his ear. Xander could not explain it, but he felt safe in her embrace. His sidearms dropped to the floor, and he remained in that position, crying in her arms 'til the darkness of sleep claimed him.  
  
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@END FLASHBACK@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@  
  
Since then Drusilla had remained his rock, his lifeline to the real world when his emotions were so intense they threatened to overpower him. The first few days they were together, all Xander could do was lay in her bed, sometimes weeping, the other times catatonic. Drusilla brought him food to eat, and gave him the comfort that both his body and mind had craved. Every night {or day, in human time} for the past six months, Drusilla would hold him, willing him to sleep while he cried. {When we're not doing other, more fun stuff anyway.} She never tried to turn him or feed on him, which Xander found odd. {Not complaining though.}  
  
Xander had admitted to himself that without Drusilla, he would definitely be dead. If not by the hand of some undead demon, than by his own. {But at what price has that come?} As the days went by, Xander had found it increasingly harder to define himself. Sure, he spent most of his nights terrorizing the undead, but his motivation was not self righteousness, but rather a need to vent his anger. {And Dru's definitely not drinking milk to keep her fit and strong. Drinking the milkman, though, is a completely different story.}  
  
He looked down towards the girl again. {So fragile.} He knew his actions that night would shape his whole future, his destiny. Tonight, Xander Harris would define himself. He unholstered one of his weapons, pointed it at his captive's temple and closed his eyes.  
  
{Why shouldn't I do it? I've been playing around the whole 'evil' thing for a while now. This would just make it official. Like a bad guy graduation certificate I could hang on my wall. Besides, it's not as if I have anything going for me on the good side anymore. Willow's gone, and Buffy doesn't ever want to have anything to do with me again. And it's all this bitch's fault.} He thought, sneering at his frightened captive. He undid the safety on his sidearm, ready to pull the trigger that would change his life forever.  
  
{Don't let it win, Xander.}  
  
Suddenly, those words haunted his mind. Those words that had been spoken that night, a night he had been trying to forget ever since. For months, he had been trying to understand the meaning, the relevance behind them, and now, they finally made sense. He clicked the safety back on, threw the weapon to the side, and bent down on his knees, untying the girl's limbs and removing the gag from her mouth.  
  
"Thank y. . ." She could not finish she was yanked up by an incensed Drusilla.  
  
"You disappoint me, kitten. Your darkness sang to me, but now your soul stinks of light. No matter, she won't go to waste. I've been aching for a hearty meal." Her face morphed into her vampiric visage and she lowered her hideous face towards the girl's neck.  
  
"Dru, don't." Xander croaked but his pleas went unheeded as Dru's fangs continued their decent towards the inviting flesh. Xander whipped out his other beretta in desperation. "Dru, please, no!" He said, pointing his gun at Drusilla, his grip shaky, tears welling up in his eyes.  
  
"Drusilla, do as father says, put her down." a new voice rang out from behind him. To Xander's surprise, Dru obeyed the voice and dropped the girl, who promptly scurried away. He turned around to be greeted by the strangely though unquestionably familiar visage of a silver haired, grey eyed man.  
  
"Hello, 'dad'. It's been awhile." 


	13. Part 11

Part 11:  
  
Dante had observed the drama that had been playing out intently. He had been sure that his plan to corrupt the White Knight would succeed. The darkness that resided within the boy was plain to see. And using Drusilla, someone the boy obviously cared about, to unleash this darkness would make things that much easier. And after seeing the slayer reject the boy, it increased his confidence further that the White Knight would fall to the dark side without too much trouble.  
  
{But it seems I underestimated him once again.}  
  
"Hello 'dad', it's been a while." he said, making sure to accentuate the paternal term he used to describe the young Knight.  
  
Xander bore a bewildered look. "Ok, now I'm confused, who the hell are you?" He said as the barrel of his gun swung from it's steady aim toward Drusilla to the form of the newcomer. "Dru, who the hell is this guy?"  
  
"What? Don't you recognize your own son? Your pride and joy?" Dante said in mock disappointment.  
  
"OK, back it up a few. . . thousand paces there. Xander Harris does not take dips in the gene pool. The world is not ready for another me. . ."  
  
"Oohh. . . little Xander's running around in the backyard in their diapers playing hide and seek. How sweet. As sweet as they're yummy blood when I tear they're. . ."  
  
"Dru, didn't we talk about this? Can't you see I'm trying to have a conversation with the nice psychopath?"  
  
"I'm disappointed in you, father." Dante cut in, unfazed by the back and forth banter. "I truly thought you had potential. We could have ruled this insignificant little rock as father and son. But your petty 'compassion' and 'honour' had to get in the way, again. Just like it did all those years ago. Can't you see what you are, even in this body? No one will ever be able to love you, or even appreciate you. Never before, not now and never ever. Who could love the demon Sparda, conqueror of kingdoms, destroyer of dimensions, and Dark Knight of hell?"  
  
{Sparda.} That name seemed familiar to Xander somehow. Like the name of a dear, lost friend he had long forgotten. And what the man said about him never being appreciated hurt him more than he cared to admit. He chose to ignore those thoughts, however, to focus on more important things. {This must be the new big bad. Oh well. Time to go into cool, suave, butt kicking Xander mode.} "Rule this insignificant little rock? I'll take 'Corny James Bond Enemy Lines' for $100, Alex. Now, *junior*, if you want to roughhouse with dear old dad, why don't you just bring it." Xander said with a wave of his hand. {Damn. where's my other gun? Shouldn't have thrown it away. If Dru just hadn't gone psycho on me. And why the hell is she taking orders from this reekazoid?}  
  
Dante raised his Ifrit gloves, ready to rain hellfire and brimstone on the boy, just like he had done a couple of nights ago to the witch. The gauntlets gave it's wearer the power to wield the power of hell's hottest flames. Suddenly, however, a cold smirk crossed his face as his hands dropped back to his sides. "Not yet, White Knight. The confrontation between Sparda and Dante will come, but I still need you until then. Since your stupidity prevents you from joining me, I will have to revert to my original plan." With that, he turned around and walked away.  
  
Xander was about to pull the trigger, when he saw Drusilla skip off behind Dante. "D-Dru, where are you going?" He asked in a shaky voice. Even though he had drawn his weapon at her earlier, he did not expect that she would leave him for the enemy. It did not register with him that his security blanket for the past six months, the only person that kept him sane, would forsake him.  
  
Drusilla stopped for a moment, and turned around to meet his eyes, a sad look on her face. "I'm sorry kitten." Was all she said as she continued to catch up with Dante.  
  
And at that moment, Xander Harris finally realized that he was now, well and truly, alone.  
  
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@  
  
  
  
"You know Spike, when I asked you to accompany us home, I didn't mean it as an invitation inside." Amy said as she sat herself down on the edge of the Summer's home couch. Spike had walked Amy and Dawn there after a fruitless day of research. While Dawn was upstairs taking a shower, Amy and Spike were lounging around in the living room.  
  
"It was my pleasure, Jerry, you don't need to bloody thank me." Spike answered sarcastically as he stretched himself out on the couch, his head landing on the witch's lap.  
  
"Hey, hey, hey! My brand new dress does not need a layer of peroxide on it, thank you!" Amy said, though she made no move to push the vampire off.  
  
"Oh, you know you love my head, and. . ." Spike's face broke into a predatory grin, "I also happen to know you'd like to give me a little head."  
  
"I don't need to give you a little head, Spikey, you already have one." Amy replied as innocently as she could. {Touchdown!} She knew she had struck a powerful verbal blow when she saw Spike's face turn ten shades of purple. {Didn't know that was possible with vampires.}  
  
"I'll have you know, y-you-you little witch," Spike spluttered as he sat upright, staring daggers at Amy, "I have a very big head! The biggest in this bloody town, at least! William, the Bloody Huge, that's what they used to call me!"  
  
"Oh, I can see that you have a big head, Spike." Amy said, making sure there was no doubt which head she was talking about. "It's a wonder why the brain inside it is so small."  
  
"Oh yes, let's make fun at the evilly impaired, it's not like they could retaliate by snapping your scrawny neck or anything!" The vampire replied, folding his arms toward his chest and curling his lips into what Amy thought was the most unconvincing, hyperbolic pout in the history of mankind.  
  
{Then why do I find it so endearing?} Her hand instinctively snaked out to touch Spike's thigh as a show of comfort and apology, but she caught herself in time and slapped it on his shoulder instead. She didn't know why, but she felt the overwhelming urge to make him feel better. "Oh, you know I didn't mean what I said, Willy. Just a few haha's at your expense. Don't be such a sensitive vampire." Spike's sulking did not waver. "Oh come on, I said I was sorry. . . kind of. What else do you want me to say? That you're package is so humongous that even Fed-Ex would have a hard time delivering it? Or maybe. . . this." Acting on impulse, she leaned over and planted a kiss on his smooth, pale cheek.  
  
They were both rendered speechless by her brazen actions. Amy had backed away only slightly, her face still inches away from his. Spike eyes widened in shock the moment she kissed him, his hand reaching up to touch the spot where her warm lips had touched his cold skin, creating an almost electric contrast. Suddenly, they found themselves attracted to each other like opposite poles of a magnet. They're lips' inched closer and closer, until they could practically (well, Spike anyway) feel each other's breaths on their faces. {Just a little closer. Yeah that's it. 3. . . 2. . . 1. . .}  
  
The front door swung open violently, the banging sound causing the two to spring away from each other immediately. The both of them stood up, Spike in his game face, Amy's hands raised in a spell casting position, ready to face any threat that would dare cross the threshold.  
  
So when the familiar form of Buffy Summers walked into the house, they let out matching sighs of relief. "Jeez, slayer. Knock much? You nearly gave me a heart attack." Spike said clutching his chest.  
  
"In case you didn't notice Spike, this is my house." Buffy replied, dangling a set of keys in front of her. "And besides, vampires can't get heart attacks, though it looks like you just had one a minute ago. Why are you and Amy both so flushed?"  
  
"So, Buffy." Amy said loudly, eager to change the subject. "How was your date. . . I mean, day with Xander?"  
  
Buffy sighed audibly as she entered the living room and sat on the couch, motioning for her companions to do the same. Amy took a seat next to her, while Spike just propped himself up against a wall. "I've seen better looking plane crashes, Amy."  
  
"That bad, huh?" Amy said sympathetically.  
  
"And that was the reason for you trying to slay the front door?" Spike added not-so-sympathetically.  
  
"I'll admit, I didn't handle the situation to well just now, Aims, but I think it's safe to say that Xander has gone bad. I mean, you should have seen him. He nearly killed an innocent just now." Buffy choked up, tears welling up in her eyes. Both of her friends showed support in their own ways, Amy sneaking an arm around her , pulling her into a hug while Spike gripped her shoulder gently. "What am I going to do guys?" She squeaked in a strained voice, the tears flowing freely. "He's evil now, and I can't do anything about it. I couldn't stop Willow, and I know I won't be able to stop him."  
  
"No." Dawn's voice cut through the tension permeating in the room. She had finished showering and was now clad in her nightgown. She was making her way down the stairs to check up on Spike and Amy, when she caught the end bit of what Buffy was saying.  
  
The slayer, witch and vampire disentangled themselves from each other, and Buffy turned to face her sister. "I'm sorry, Dawn. I know you believed that he was still the old Xander. But. . ."  
  
"No! Xander is not evil. I know it! And I'll prove it to you guys!" With that, Dawn raced out the front door, leaving her guardians trailing in her wake.  
  
"Dawn wait!" Buffy shouted as she shot off the couch to chase after her sister, with Spike and Amy close behind. "It's dangerous out there! You shouldn't be. . ." The three of them stopped short when they reached her front porch, eyes wide in horror at the scene before them.  
  
Dante was holding to a struggling Dawn by the neck, one of his hands clasping her mouth shut. Beside him, Drusilla was standing there, a Cheshire grin on her face. "Look at what I found, slayer. You seem to have dropped your key."  
  
"What do you want, Dante?" Buffy asked, the tone in her voice all business. Dawn was in trouble and she'd be damned if anything happened to her sister.  
  
"Isn't it obvious? I want you, all of you. Meet me at the gates of hell in an hour and I might consider letting this precious little thing live." He stroked Dawn's cheek with his thumb, causing her to whimper in fear.  
  
"Oh, and one more thing, slayer. Make sure to bring daddy with you. His mommy here. . ." Dante said gesturing toward Drusilla, " and I tried to show him how much more fun being a bad guy is but the stubborn old man would not listen to reason."  
  
Suddenly, it all made sense to Buffy. {The White Knights are usually never recognized or appreciated for the. . . oh my god.} "Xander."  
  
"What? Who? What?" Spike asked, the tone of his voice matching the look of confusion on Amy's face.  
  
"Xander. He's the White Knight."  
  
"Catches on fast, doesn't she?" Dante asked sardonically. "Now if you'll excuse us slayer, we have a date with destiny. Lumos!" With that, there was a flash of bright light which temporarily blinded Buffy and her cohorts, and when they regained their vision, Dante, Drusilla and their captive was gone.  
  
"Nope, this isn't good. Not good at all."  
  
  
  
Here ya go, Furious. Hope the S/Amy-ness quenches your thirst for other character happenings. The reason why I only have Buffy and Dawn being affected by Xand's arrival is because I don't feel that Amy and Spike was that close to Xander in the first place. 


	14. Part 12

Part 12:  
  
"Hey, Wills."  
  
The rustling of the leaves were the only response that Xander received as he stood in front of his best friend's grave for the second time in three nights, the moon his only source of luminescence. His gaze was unshakably locked towards the smooth, white marble that formed her head stone. He bent down to read the inscription and was repulsed by what he found.  
  
Willow Rosenberg  
  
1981-2002  
  
{Nothing.}  
  
He was surprised that he didn't notice it's sparse nature when he visited before. {Come to think of it, I was kind of busy at the time.} No mention of her compassionate heart, her intelligence, her heroic deeds or even of the loved ones she left behind. When someone walked past her grave, they wouldn't be privileged with the knowledge of her contribution to the betterment of the world. It angered the young man that her memory was reduced to nothing more than a name and a date, just another meaningless statistic.  
  
{Then again, they're last memories of her weren't exactly Kodak moments. If they only knew what I know. Now they never will.} Xander laughed bitterly at the thought as a warm tear slid down his cheek. He caressed the carved letterings gently, noting how hard and cold the marble felt on his fingers. { Like my heart.}  
  
"I can't take it anymore, Wills." He began as he stood back up, pacing back and forth. "There's nothing left for me here, anymore. Not with the living or the undead." He stopped pacing and came face to face with her headstone once more. "So I'm letting go." He took a deep breath before continuing sardonically. "Looks like your sacrifice was in vein after all."  
  
He retrieved his loyal sidearm from under his leather duster. {How ironic that the one thing that has kept me alive for so long will be the same thing that finishes me off.} "I heard hell's kind of cold this time of year. And I don't care." He let out a disturbing laugh, similar to the sounds he emitted when he was possessed by the Hyena spirit. "Hope I didn't forget to pack an extra sweater." He stopped giggling abruptly and raised the gun. "I might be in hell, but at least we'll be together." With that, he pointed the barrel towards the side of his head, taking a few minutes to revel in the contact of cold hard steel against warm, soft flesh.  
  
"I'm coming, Willow."  
  
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@  
  
"Don't worry Buffy, how hard could it be to find a gun toting reincarnation of an all powerful hell knight in such a small town?" the Slayer mocked herself in an exaggerated Amy voice. {Ooh look, it's a needle. . . why don't I throw it in that haystack over there? Jackass.} Buffy was now cursing the witch for deciding that herself and Spike be on weapon detail instead of assisting in the search for Xander. But she knew Amy's reasoning. {She knows that I'm the only who has a chance at persuading him to help us. Amy never was close to him and Spike. . . let's not even go there. Though after the way I treated Xander earlier, I might have to be prepared to do some serious begging with just a pinch of grovelage by the side.}  
  
She checked her wrist watch for what felt like the millionth time. {Great. I've got another 25 minutes to find him, convince him to help us, and meet up with Aims and Spike at the old high school. Talk about cutting it close.} "Where the hell are you Xander?" She muttered to herself as she continued trudging through the maze of tombstones in one of Sunnydale's many cemeteries. That specific cemetery held a special place in her heart, though for all the wrong reasons.{Ms. Calendar, mom, Anya, Wil. . .} all the people that she had loved and lost were resting there. When the first of them had fallen, the Scooby gang had decided to bury their fallen comrades together, in a show of solidarity and respect. Buffy silently hoped that she would not have to bury anymore for some time to come. {We've lost so many already.}  
  
Suddenly, Buffy's sensitive ears picked up a familiar voice coming from the vicinity of her loved ones' graves. {Damn it! How could I have been so stupid? I should have known he would head here.}She broke off in a run in the direction of one Xander Harris's voice. She was a few meters away from the young knight {He hasn't noticed me yet. Something must be distracting him. And what's up with his body language? Something's wrong here.} when she saw him point the gun he had been holding towards his head.  
  
The slayer audibly gasped, but remained ignored by Xander. {Shit. Think brain, think? What am I going to do? I can't loose another one. I can't loose him.}Buffy considered getting angry. If she was fast enough, she could probably kick the gun out of his hand before he managed to pull the trigger. Then she would proceed to lay the verbal smack down on him for even considering such a cowardly act like suicide.  
  
{No. For the past six years, I've let my anger control me. My tendency to let my emotions cloud my judgment caused the whole Angel thing to blow up in my face, Riley to leave and that whole mess with Spike to ever happen. Well, no more. Now it's time for Buffy Summers to start using her common sense. Huh, I'd never thought I'd use the word `Buffy' and `common sense' in the same sentence. Xander has always been my voice of reason, and now it's time to return the favour, for Xander's sake, as well as Dawn's.}  
  
"Hey." She called out, the calmness in her voice surprising even herself.  
  
Xander recognized the voice immediately. It's stoic nature, however, surprised him. He had expected Buffy to get angry, sad, disappointed {at least feel something}, but the tone in her voice was devoid of any emotion, like she was casually saying hello to a stranger on the street.  
  
"Hey." He answered in kind without turning around to face her. {I don't know what game you're playing at, Buffy, but I'll bite.}  
  
"So. . . what's the sitch?"  
  
{I've got a gun to my head and she asks me what's the sitch? And the most stupid question of the year award goes to. . .} "Nothing. Just going to visit an old friend."  
  
"Most people take the bus."  
  
"Have you even seen the public transport system in Sunnydale? I've seen less dangerous demons. I'll take my chances with my feet, thank you very much."  
  
"I could give you a lift." Buffy hoped Xander caught the implicit meaning in her statement.  
  
He did.  
  
"What do you want, Buffy?" Xander said with anger and frustration as he swung around to meet her eyes. "Can't you see that I'm kind of busy?"  
  
{Hold it together, Buff.} "I want to tell you a story, Xand."  
  
"Aren't we too old for fairytales, Buff?"  
  
"No, no fairytales. If I've learned anything from living on the hellmouth, it's that fairytales don't exist. The story I want to tell you is based on actual events. Now do you want to listen or not? If you don't, I'll shut up right now."  
  
"Good cause I don't. I'll catch the movie adaptation when it comes out." With that he undid the safety on his weapon with a loud click.  
  
"I lied." Buffy blurted out as quickly as she could. Seeing that she now had Xander's undivided attention, she continued. "So, once upon a time there was this girl. . ."  
  
"Was she hot? I mean naked hot?" Xander bit out sarcastically.  
  
{So I didn't have his undivided attention. Still the funnyman, even now.} "Hush, let me finish. There was this girl, her name was. . . Anne. Now Anne wasn't your average girl next door. She was the slayer. Ancient prophecy, Chosen One. . . yadda, yadda, yadda. . . you know the drill. Besides being the slayer, she was one messed up girl. I'm talking serious, messy, no-holds-barred fucked up here. And just like the slayers before her, she was expected to have the shelf life of last weeks milk. But against the odds she managed to stay alive for over six years." Buffy reconsidered her last statement before adding "Well, technically anyway."  
  
She expected Xander to let loose with one of his trademark Xander-isms, but none came. {Geez, feed him a straight line like that, and he doesn't even notice.} "And how, do you ask," She started again, her voice tinged with annoyance. "did she manage to survive for so long? Two words: Scooby Gang. Created specifically to keep the slayer alive, keep her sane and keep her from going bad. One person stood out in this role. Though many people in the slayer's life came and went, this man never left her side. Let's call him Lavelle." If the atmosphere wasn't so tense between the two, Buffy would have laughed seeing Xander's grimace on hearing his despised middle name.  
  
"Now, Lavelle was dubbed Anne's heart, but in truth, he was so much more. He was her voice of reason, always making sure that she had both feet planted firmly on the ground, telling her off when she made bad decisions. He save her life more times than she will ever know. He would do anything for her, to make her life that much more bearable. Even if it meant sacrificing his own happiness."  
  
"I know the story Buffy, so what?" Xander finally cut in.  
  
"So what? So what?" Buffy felt anger and sadness enveloping her. {Does he think that lowly of himself?} "That's my point Xander! Your life, your problems, are not `So What' metrial! You shut down, keep them bottled up. You don't come to me. . . don't come to anyone when you're hurting!"  
  
Xander sighed. "You're the slayer, why should you be burdened with my problems? You have so much more to worry about than the butt monkey's life issues."  
  
"Damnit Xander," Buffy was shouting now. "You of all people should know that I'm not just the slayer! I'm also Buffy Summers, a woman, a sister, a friend. . . a friend to Xander Harris! I know that I don't show it enough, but I care about you, I love you! You could have come to me. You didn't need to run off with the cover girl for `Psycho Demon Bitch Whore Monthly'! Vampires won't cure your loneliness, Xand. Believe me, I know what it feels like, I've been there, done that, bought the t-shirt."  
  
"Don't call her that!" Xander replied, in what was possibly a louder voice than Buffy's. "She might have been a vampire, but she was there for me. She loved me. It might have not been healthy, but it was love!" The slayer was speechless. {I didn't know his feelings for Drusilla ran so deep. Does he love her back?} Buffy didn't want to explore that thought.  
  
And she wasn't given the chance to. "And another thing," Xander continued. " Don't you dare tell me you know how I feel. You have no idea, no. . . no right!" Tears were now streaking down his face. "You don't know how it feels like to have the only person who ever loved you as much as you loved her die right in front of you while professing her vows to stay true to you, and only you. To have to take the life of the only true friend you've ever known. To feel so fucking alone that you'd do just about anything to end your miserable existence!"  
  
"You're. . . you're right." Buffy answered timidly, without a hint of her usual temper.  
  
{Holy spit take, Batman!} "What?" Xander asked in bewilderment, this was the last thing he expected from the slayer.  
  
"I said you're absolutely right." Buffy's answered shakily. "I don't know how you feel. Just like you didn't know how it felt for me to be pulled out of heaven."  
  
"Buffy, I. . ."  
  
"Please, let me finish." The sound of her voice alone spoke of the torrent of emotions swirling in her head. "When I was taken away from heaven, it felt like someone had torn off my hand and was digging my heart out with it. I felt angry, sad, disappointed," Buffy choked back a sob. "did I mention angry? I fought the darkness for five bloody years," {Channeling Spike there, never a good thing.} "didn't I deserve some rest? I was arrogant, I didn't think that any of you could help me because none of you knew how it felt like to have total and utter content physically ripped from your body. But I know now that friends don't have to know what it feels like. All they have to do is understand, and be a source of comfort, a shoulder to cry on. Maybe if I had realized that earlier, and opened up to you guys, none of this would have happened. Maybe Anya and Willow would still be alive. I haven't ever told you this before, Xander, but I'm sorry. Sorry for being me. Sorry for ruining  
your chance to ever have a normal life."  
  
"Buffy. . ." Xander breathed raggedly as Buffy's message finally sunk in. He was visibly shaking, his grip on the weapon pointed menacingly toward himself loosening.  
  
Buffy decided to go through the small window of opportunity that had presented itself to her, quickly dashing forward and knocking the gun out of Xander's grasp. She didn't care if it would hurt his hand {Just call it tough love.} She then embraced him, pulling them both down to their knees.  
  
"What the hell do you think you were doing, huh?" Buffy whispered into his ear, the salty taste of tears prevalent in her mouth. She wasn't sure whose they were. "Don't you dare die on me, Xander, you mean to much to me."  
  
"I couldn't take it anymore Buffy. I feel so alone." Xander voice was muffled since his face was pressed into Buffy's chest. "First Anya left me, and then Willow, and now Drusilla. . . I figured that if I die, who'd miss me?"  
  
"Don't ever think that, Xander." Buffy said gently yet firmly as she held him at arms length, so she could speak to him face to face. "No matter what happens, I'll always be there for you. We'll get through this, Xand, you and me, I promise. And Amy, and Spike if we bribe him, and Dawn. . ." Buffy suddenly remembered why she was searching for him in the first place. Once again, she glanced at her wrist watch. {Shit. We're supposed to meet Spike and Amy at the high school in ten minutes!}  
  
"What is it, Buffy?" Xander asked, noticing the Slayer's sudden preoccupation with her time telling device.  
  
"Look, Xander, we'll talk about this later, I promise. But right now Dawn's in danger, and we need your help. We've got to get to the old high school right now, I'll fill you in on the details along the way." Buffy had reverted to Slayer mode, the tone in her voice all business. She got up and started off in the direction of the old Sunnydale High School, with Xander in tow.  
  
"OK. And Buffy?"  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"Thanks."  
  
"Just returning a favour. Let's just call things even." 


End file.
